SCHOOL ZONES:
Milford Primary, Takapuna Intermediate, Westlake Boys’ and Girls’ High, Takapuna Grammar.
CONTACT:
John Hill, Harcourts, ph 021 688608.
If you listen hard enough in the stillness of this 1920s character bungalow in a quiet, tree-lined North Shore street, you can almost hear the echoes of 50 years of happy family life.
Seven children grew up here beneath the shadow of a giant oak, and as owner John Armstrong's daughter Pru walks around the scene of her childhood she sees memories in every single nook and cranny.
John and his late wife Joan bought the site unseen before moving from England with their five children, who were later joined by two more siblings.
John had been Lieutenant on HMS Archilles during World War II, and had met Joan in Dartmouth. Unfortunately, she'd had tuberculosis and was unwell for many years, but eventually she recovered and agreed to a new life in Auckland.
John's father and brothers found the house, which complied fully with the strict written list of criteria from Joan: it had to be close to church, schools, shops and parks.
Just five minutes' walk from Milford Shopping Centre, there are excellent schools nearby and beautiful Sylvan Park lies at the end of the street. Ducks from Lake Pupuke waddle by and there are plenty of churches in the neighbourhood so it ticked that box for Joan, too.
And so it was that an excited Armstrong family boarded a British Overseas Airways Corporation passenger service from Heathrow to Whenuapai to embark on their new adventure.
The weatherboard house is still simple but spacious with lots of lovely period features, and sits on the last full site in the street.
It was last renovated in the 1980s and has had a few additions over the years including a spacious master bedroom at the front, but they blend seamlessly with the original footprint. Pru and older sister Clare can remember sitting around the dining table in the kitchen doing their homework while Joan cooked dinner for nine.
"It was all orderly," Pru says. "Mum was a very peaceful person. She was our anchor."
There's a veranda at the back where meals were eaten in summer, and behind the garage John and Joan built what was basically a teenage hideout. Pru points out a doorbell on the windowsill: "When Mum wanted us back inside she'd push it."
One bathroom serves the house, and there's a separate toilet plus a newly installed shower in the laundry. The kitchen and bathroom are in need of updating but the potential is huge, as it is in the living room. This generous space, with its open fire, is also etched into Pru's memory and she smiles as she thinks about happy times together.
Image 1 of 4: This simple, spacious house on a full site comes complete with cherished memories
John, who qualified in law after leaving the Navy, went on to work in the family firm in Devonport while Joan busied herself with family, teaching and church so there was always lots to discuss.
Naturally, the family and especially John, who recently moved to a small house on his son's section nearby, hope that the house will be bought by another family, although they are well aware the full site will be attractive to developers.
John feels sad about having left the property that once cost him the princely sum of £6500, but glancing up at a painted portrait of his wife smiling happily, he says: "It was a wonderful home and we have a lot to be grateful for."
