SCHOOL ZONES:
Meadowbank School, Remuera Intermediate, Selwyn College.
CONTACT:
Steen Nielsen, Ray White, 027 557 8336.
AUCTION:
November 25.
The house is quirky but it has been a relaxing place to live in. Looking back on it all, Susan and Rob Craigie should have guessed that something big was going on where the flagpole soared above the trees behind their former home in Kelvin Rd. But they didn't knowthis place existed until the day Susan went house-hunting, took a wrong turn and found herself on the right side of paradise, awestruck by the view back past the flagpole, the pool, the decks, the lawn, the giant redwood trees and the bush-clad valley. She'd gone looking for a family home and found them a resort.
The land, the view and the wild ducks tugged at their wallet but it was the infinity pool with its 3m diving board and award-winning, multi-level landscaped setting that sealed the deal.
"People have a home in the suburbs and a house, say, at the beach. We've got it all in the same place right here," says Rob.
This property which is now on three titles came to life in 1925 as a two-bedroom cottage on a small site. It was variously extended in 1954 and in the early 1980s to become this double-storey house and this larger land block.
Announcing its pedigree with multi-patterned carpet in the entrance, it unfolds to reveal four living areas, three fireplaces, matai timber flooring and multi-function spaces.
The main bedroom with en suite/guest bathroom looks out to a quaint brick courtyard by the Zen garden at the front. Three double bedrooms are upstairs. The open plan dining area by the main study and the solid timber/granite kitchen opens to the courtyard near the edible garden beds and fruit trees.
The formal dining room-cum-billiard room is their bar for big parties; the viewing area at the end of the entrance next to the formal lounge and adjacent library is their bar for smaller gatherings. Say Rob, who is a mechanical designer-engineer: "We can accommodate 100 people up here easily and we've had 200 even and we've still never pushed this place to the limits."
Image 1 of 12: A Remuera couple has found their haven for old-fashioned values among the trees. Photos / Fiona Goodall
Susan and Rob have toyed with countless redesign possibilities and shelved them all in favour of an easy life as this house stands.
"Our vision was for the outside not the inside. The house is quirky but it has been a relaxing place to live in."
Susan, an obstetric research co-ordinator says: "It's a happy house." Tui, kingfishers, wild ducks, moreporks, fantails, doves and wood pigeons all share the love. "The birds are part of our lives; we live in their land," she says.
For this couple and their sons Tom (22) and Harry (21) both tertiary students, it is about living in the fresh air. There's the "poop deck" (in reference to the aft deck of the ship) by the lounge, the cocktail deck with loungers beside the pool, the breakfast deck on the opposite side and another brick courtyard near the kitchen.
The boys have camped among the trees on their part of this rambling, cherished neighbourhood valley which includes a 10m protected, council-designated "significant ecological area" riparian strip by the stream that runs down to the estuary.
It is a small portion of protected bush that Rob describes as "a nice balance between freedom and legacy".
Heading out to catch up with their former neighbours, Susan and Rob will carry a torch and take the tracks through the bush.
"In a nutshell we've loved this place for the space. We fought for space in the suburbs but here you've got all those old-fashioned values in the land, the pool, the workshop, the flying fox - it has been awesome in every sense," says Rob as they look to downsize -- not too much, just a little.
