Pukekawa: Shift workers

Nick and Melinda are leaving the home they moved and restored so daughter Niamh can be closer to her extended family. Photo / Fritha Tagg

Two newly qualified architects didn't know what they were taking on when they moved an 1870s house from the city to the country, writes Fritha Tagg.

Geraghty Road, Pukekawa. To move a run-down, two-storey villa from Parnell to rural Pukekawa is not for the faint-hearted. For Nick Melrose and his wife Melinda Trask the project was exciting and arduous, but the end result is stunning.

It all started eight years ago when newly qualified architects Nick and Melinda, who met while studying, decided they couldn't afford a house in Auckland so would use the block of land gifted to Nick by his grandparents and move an old house on to the land that adjoins the family farm.

Nick and Melinda searched up and down the country, and by chance came across a close-to-derelict house in St Stephens Avenue.

On their first visit they rejected the two-storey weatherboard house, circa 1870, but had another look when they could get into some of the six flats the old villa had been turned into.

Melinda said when they got inside she knew it was the one.

"It just felt right, and if you looked past the flat conversions you could see the old house was right - spacious and with heaps of rooms."

It had the potential they were looking for, but the owners were going to bulldoze it.

Nick and Melinda quickly bought it, had some of the add-ons removed and the basic house was cut into four pieces for transportation.

"When we knew we had it, we took the old fireplaces out and stored them at an uncle's place. We had heard stories of houses being stripped so we took what we could." It wasn't enough. When the house was being prepared for removal all the internal doors were stolen.

The house has an intriguing history: it was originally owned by Lt Colonel William Hulme. Ownership moved to Archdeacon Kessling, who sold a half share to Rev Robert Burrows who sold it to Bishop Selwyn in 1861. These men have all played important roles in the early history of New Zealand.

Once the house was set on its foundations in Pukekawa the real work began.

"We didn't realise just what a mess cutting a house up makes. We basically had to start from scratch, putting the strength back in, tearing off the interior walls, insulating and then re-lining. We wanted to keep it as authentic as possible but we also needed to make it strong, safe and warm."

It is without doubt a majestic old lady. It looks very much at home in the rolling hills of Pukekawa, but knowing its history it is easy to picture it in its prime in Parnell.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: 281sq m plus 120sq m verandah.

PRICE: By private treaty, offers invited above $800,000.

INSPECT: By appointment.

CONTACT: Clare Cassrels, Bayleys Counties, ph 021 877 383 or 09 295 1190 bus.

FEATURES: Two-storey weatherboard villa, huge living areas, sunroom, verandahs, double garage plus workshop, concrete drive, four open fires complemented by discreet heating, 10-minute drive from SH1 turn-off at Mercer.