Feeling the force in Herne Bay

69 Sarsfield St, Herne Bay. Photo / Geoff Dale

69 SARSFIELD ST HERNE BAY

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SIZE: Land 1113sq m, house 320sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: CV $4.67 million. Auction on-site February 12 at 2pm unless sold prior.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1.00pm-1.40pm.

ON THE WEB: premium.co.nz/30631

SCHOOL ZONES: Ponsonby Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls' Grammar, Western Springs College.

CONTACT: Pene Milne, Premium, ph 021 919 940.

FEATURES: David Ponting-renovated harbour-side home with riparian rights, pool and two levels of well-designed family living. Superb harbour views.

When Sharon Hunter, who found fame as the co-founder of PC Direct at the tender age of 22, and her husband Tenby Powell bought a dated but solid 1980s home on the shores of the Waitemata, it had location and potential but not a lot else. Sharon laughs as she remembers its "Darth Vaderish look; all dark grey and brown with bits of red."

Despite the Force not being with the home, what couldn't be denied were the desirability of the location and the beauty of the views on offer. Perched on the water's edge of Herne Bay's northern slopes, with Watchmans Island and the Chelsea Sugar Works presented in a frame of pohutukawa green and impossibly blue water, it's hard to imagine anything more representative of a New Zealand summer.

Sharon admits that everything about the location sold it to them. "This is the part of town we will always live in or near. Everything about it is easy. Good cafes, close to town, the superb Ponsonby Primary School. And of course there are the views."

Turning the house into their family home was also easy once David Ponting from David Ponting Architecture and his team came on board. "David is very clever. He gets light in everywhere it is needed, and yet controls it so there is always just the right amount.

"He was also able to create a house that somehow always feels appropriate in size. It can absorb all number of people, including young children, and yet when Tenby and I are here alone, the top floor feels like the perfect size for an apartment."

Allowing for a comfortable separation between the generations, Ponting designed the ground floor primarily for the children's use.

Here two large bedrooms, each with a wall of glass doors out to the rear garden, the pool and the views, a large family-sized bathroom, a living area and play space provide everything the children need, while the super-sized utility area on the south side makes the practicalities of life

a breeze.

But it is up the sculpturally curved staircase with its hanging waterfall of Tom Dixon lights where all the living takes place. Here, a kitchen with polished cupboards and Corian surfaces, a dining area and relaxed living space all connect effortlessly with the wide deck that draws the eye to the panorama outside. A huge mechanised shade over this controls the amount of sun both outside and into the interior, while a row of movable louvres over a skylight in the hall creates lines of light and dark to emphasise the strong, simple rectangles of the architecture.

Sharon "just loves" the bathroom that accompanies the main bedroom. Rather than being a mere en suite, it is the biggest of the home's bathrooms. "I spend a lot of time in here. It is the most restful space you can imagine."

The need for finding a solution to the shortfalls of the Darth Vader pad had a silver lining, though, for in working through the renovations Sharon and Tenby formed an enduring relationship with David Ponting.

"We're building a new house at the moment and we're working with the same team ... we're taking all the things we got right here to the new house, and because there are so many good things here, the new house will have a lot of this one in it."