St Marys Bay: European union

A St Marys Bay couple have taken a standard villa and given it a rambling continental feel.

38 London Street, St Marys Bay.

When Shaffe and Polly Kahn move to Melbourne they plan to take the view from their three-storey St Mary's Bay villa with them.

Polly, who is an artist, aims to take night-time pictures from their upstairs master bedroom of the panoramic views of the Waitemata Harbour (and the Sky Tower out the side window) and have them printed on to blinds.

At night, when the blinds go down in their new Edwardian villa in South Yarra, it'll be like they never left Auckland.

That plan is a testament to the feeling they have for the home they bought 14 years ago and redeveloped - not to mention the memories they'll be leaving behind.

Shaffe says when they first looked at the house in 1991 it was a "typical single-storey Kiwi villa" but at the open home he found a ladder around the back and whipped up on to the roof.

The views opened up before him and he was sold.

Three years later Polly and Shaffe began redeveloping the house. They did it in three stages: extending the back of the house to create a nanny's quarters, adding the third level, and finally building a garage and landscaping the property.

All the time Shaffe says they were "trying to retain its guts and soul but add some European heritage to it".

"Rather than turn everything totally contemporary, we wanted to retain the villa feel of the house. But we did things like the double entry at the front, which comes from a French/Italian influence."

That sort of vision took some time to fulfil: the top level alone took 16 months to finish.

"We lived here the whole time because we wanted to be part of the project," says Shaffe. "It was a bit of a nightmare because every day we came home from work it was a major clean-up operation.

"And the day the builders lobbed the old roof off, Auckland decided to rain forever."

Polly says, "It was really hard to get to sleep at night when you could hear water running down the walls."

Through these trials, the Kahns' aim was to create a house that was ideal for entertaining and with enough living areas so they, their children - 20-year-old Zane and 14-year-old Dominique - and guests could spread out.

"We wanted gathering areas and private areas," says Shaffe.

Zane lives downstairs. "He's got his decks down there and you only know he's there when you can hear the bass going up and down the street," says Shaffe.

The open plan kitchen and living areas are on the central level of the house, as well as the self-contained nanny's quarters.

There are several outdoor living areas at the front of the house and a more private deck off the kitchen at the rear.

The kitchen has two ovens, a walk-in chiller and two benches with sinks - the latter Shaffe describes as "the cooking and cleaning stations" which gives a hint of how the couple revels in entertaining at home.

"That's what this house is all about to us," says Shaffe.

"The kitchen, the friends, the food, the wine - the whole thing that goes with it." Upstairs are the bedrooms, which all have views. But the large master bedroom, which has decks either side that partially wrap around the front, commands spectacular views north over the harbour.

The clear view of the Sky Tower and its New Year fireworks from the upstairs deck means the Kahns' house is popular come December 31. "A lot of people book in here for New Year whether we like it or not," laughs Polly.

The Khans are moving to Melbourne - with Dominique and their dogs Alf and Coco - to further the expansion of Shaffe's global logistics company. Zane is staying in Auckland to work for the business.

"It's going to be really hard to leave because it's been a tremendous house for us - and the neighbours are absolutely brilliant," says Shaffe. "But we both feel that moving to Melbourne and taking on a new house is another challenge we wanted to take."

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 632sq m, house 445sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATOR: Interest expected upwards of $3 million. Tender closes 4pm, September 1.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1pm to 1.45pm.

CONTACT: Selwyn Houry ph 021 535635 mob, Wayne Bulog, ph 0274 723 557 mob, Unlimited Potential Herne Bay, ph 361-6658.

FEATURES: A sprawling family residence in one of St Marys Bay's best streets with outstanding harbour and city views. Mediterranean-influenced villa with multiple living areas, both indoors and outdoors, and a true entertainer's kitchen.