Remuera: Natural inclination

An interior designer's toughest job was convincing her husband to build on a steep site.

81 Portland Road, Remuera.

When interior designer Paula McIntosh saw a bare site in Portland Road six years ago she thought it had potential. Husband Ross, the builder of the team, was not convinced - he thought it too steep and difficult.

Off they went to France on holiday and there Paula snapped up a shipment of 100-year-old terracotta roof and floor tiles for the house she envisaged on the site.

They still hadn't bought the land but that's the way Paula works - she always has a vision in mind. The couple made a successful offer, and six years later the house at number 81 is some vision.

This home owes much to the French farmhouses Paula loves - it's a two-storey plastered house with double-thickness walls. She then added her attention to detail, such as encasing in wood the steel beams that hold up the first floor. Paula personally painted them white.

"I must have been mad," she says of the arduous task.

Well, she painted them until she got sick of it and then handed the job on to her painter, who has a fulltime job carrying out her commissions.

Ross spent a year building the house on the steep site.

"He was down in the gully and I'd bring round some food and ask him if he was coming up this week," Paula reminisces.

But five years on the house looks as if it's been here forever - and a lot of that is due to Paula's extensive planting. Ivy climbing the exterior and courtyard gardens add to its charm. Inside, the lounge and dining room runs the length of the house. With lime-washed walls, tiled floors, antiques and chandeliers - it's the essence of French style.

The details make this house different from any other. Paula had the granite kitchen bench honed to dull down the finish. In the master bedroom she painted taupe stripes around the walls, and advises, "The trick is not to get them too straight. Keep them a little bit wobbly."

The master bedroom en suite is clad in cross-cut travertine marble. Apparently the tiles are extremely heavy.

"Well, they are when you have to carry every one of them up the stairs to the bathroom." Luckily, that was Ross' job.

A chandelier with exquisite golf ball-sized drops hangs over the bed - another of Paula's finds in Paris.

"I love anything French but I also like English style as well, and a mix of modern and old. Creating an atmosphere is what it's all about; somewhere nice to come home to."

The McIntoshs have lived in this house for five years - a long time for them. In the past year Paula has spread her wings to Wanaka, and after doing the interiors for four different homes there has fallen in love with the place. Now she and Ross have bought a 1970s chalet style house there which they intend to transform into a boutique lodge.

It's a new adventure for Paula, but it certainly won't mean she leaves Auckland for good.

"I've got an idea to go back to Ponsonby after Wanaka, get a fabulous old villa and do that up."

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOM: 3

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 1000 sq m, house 325sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Above $3 million.

VIEW: By appointment.

CONTACT: Leila MacDonald, Barfoot & Thompson, ph 021 928 926 mob, 524 0149 bus.

FEATURES: A two-storey plastered French-style house with double-thickness walls, terracotta tiles on floors and roof, extensive use of French doors. Two living areas which include plasma TV and surround sound. Luxury fittings in bathrooms, walk-in pantry and wine cellar.