Hillsborough: Family foundations

A 50-year-old family home is filled with happy memories, writes Lucy Richmond.

14 Belfast Street, Hillsborough.

Jim Elley was the ultimate family man. In the late 1940s he ran a poultry farm in Glen Eden, which he took over from his wife Phyl's parents. Diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, his priority was to find the perfect home for Phyl and their two children, Fred and Pam, to live in after he'd gone.

His sister owned 5 Belfast Street in Hillsborough, which she wanted to sell. Jim snapped it up - it was the right size and it was close to the primary school.

"And then he lived," laughs his daughter, Jennie Reardon, "long enough to decide he wanted the section across the road."

Wasting no time, Jim bought the site and set about building number 14, which he designed with his family's needs in mind.

The bedrooms are all a good size, because he wanted the children to have enough space to enjoy their hobbies. His father was a boatbuilder, and he incorporated storage areas into the home the same as on a boat, with cupboards tucked away under bench seats and in nooks and crannies.

Next door to Hillsborough Primary School, the house is filled with the three siblings' memories.

"The school field was our playground," says Pam, "and it was perfect because mum could see us from the kitchen. It was where we kicked footballs, learnt to ride our bikes, played tennis and rollerskated.

"And if we were naughty at school and had to stand outside the class, Mum could see us," adds Jennie, who wasn't on the scene when Jim built his dream home.

"When I came along, Dad added a little room off the dining room for Fred, which is now a sun room, and I had one of the bedrooms upstairs."

She still remembers the indoor bowls they played. "The layout of the house being as it is, we could set up the skittles in the lounge and roll the bowls from the kitchen, which would travel straight through the dining room and into the lounge."

It was all dirt roads in those days. Trams went as far as Three Kings and then it was a bus ride home. "Hillsborough was out in the wop wops, which is impossible to imagine now," says Pam. "People used to say to dad,'Why on earth do you want to be all the way out there'."

Fred and his father built several boats in the back yard. The area is great for launching, says Fred, particularly at the bottom of nearby Seacliffe Road. The house has splendid views across Manukau Harbour to Puketutu Island, as well as One Tree Hill in the other direction.

The Elley children still know some of the neighbours, one of whom has just turned 91 and still remembers a little blonde girl who waved at her when she moved in - it was Jennie.

The sunny house and its flat, subdividable section offer buckets of potential to its new owner, but as it stands the property has a real soul.

"My mum and dad were married for 63 years and it has never been a place of raised voices. It was Dad's way to always discuss things," says Jennie. "Selling it is a real wrench, but it's good to know it's lived a full family life."

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 1

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 809sq m, house 171sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Buyer feedback has been in the high-$500,000s. Auction October 8.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun/Wed 1.30-2.15pm.

CONTACT: Digna Clark, Barfoot & Thompson, Onehunga, ph 636 7079 bus, 021 534 462 mob, 625 7104 a/h.

FEATURES: Immaculate family home on subdividable section built by owner in 1954. Modern for its time, features include open-plan dining and living area, sun room, upstairs balcony, built-in storage and harbour views.