CONTACT:
Karl Finn, Remax Pinnacle, (09) 8270669 or (021) 648 550
AUCTION:
May 8 on-site at noon.
Rangiwai, home to three generations of the Geddes family, is recognised as being of historical and architectural significance.
The 300sq m home was built for the Atkinson family in 1915. Henry Atkinson was one of the founders of Titirangi Village, owning significant land in the area and building several houses in those early days. His statue stands outside Lopdell House.
The two-storey wooden Victorian bungalow commands a prime hilltop position off Rangiwai Rd, close to the village.
The views stretch over the city, the Skytower to the north, and Rangitoto prominent over the other islands of the Hauraki Gulf. In the other direction is the Manukau Harbour; native bush down to the shoreline.
The Geddes family bought the house in the 1940s, and it became the home first to Mac and Ethelwyn Geddes and their sons. Their son John married Claire and they lived here with their two sons. John died last year, but Claire and son Hugo have continued to live here.
"I think the house has a spirituality," says Hugo.
"It is a lovely place to live," adds Claire. "It has obviously had so many characters here."
During WWII Ethelwyn started the Titirangi drama group, raising morale among the women when the men had gone off to the war.
John, who worked from his home office as a lawyer, had a passion for music, played Leider music and was a member of the Lex Pistols, a Dixieland jazz-style band of retired lawyers.
Claire says the drawing room, where family and friends played a lot of music, has wonderful acoustics. "It is very good for sound."
Their home is reached along a long driveway, flanked by palms and magnificent mature native trees, beehives dotted here and there. As you leave the property on the circular driveway you pass an orchard of apples, pears and plums.
Image 1 of 5: Three generations of one family grew up on the hilltop.
And then you have the large country home.
"It is a unique spot, just under a hectare of land on top of this hill, which is rare in Auckland," says Hugo. "When the house was built a lot of the land was cleared farmland and you could see 360 degrees but slowly the trees have crept up."
Matai and rimu flooring add warmth to this impressive native timber home, along with the high studs and architectural features added when Ethelwyn brought in a theatrical friend, architect professor Vernon Brown to make amendments.
Those features include a huge window in the drawing/music room, the turned balustrades of the stairway to the formal entrance, bay windows and changing the function of rooms. During those and later renovations, the kitchen was moved upstairs and the porch was closed in to make a family room.
Hugo says there are about 15 rooms in the house but only four are bedrooms so there is the potential to create additional bedrooms.
Upstairs, the hallway connects the family, drawing and dining areas, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. Downstairs are more bedrooms, another bathroom, the rooms that housed John's offices, and a laundry.
Two fireplaces and a wood burner heat the home. There is extensive storage under the house, a garage, a carport and plentiful off-street parking.
Outside, the gardens -- a legacy of Ethelwyn and Claire's passion -- include natives, camellias and rhododendrons, among many other species.
"It has taken a lot of energy to keep the place and it has come down to myself and my brother," says Hugo. "My brother is not interested in living here. I am, but I am being realistic about it. It's time to move on."
