SCHOOL ZONES:
Maungawhau Primary, Balmoral
School, Auckland Normal Intermediate, double
Grammar zone.
CONTACT:
Anna Copeland, ph 021 800 669
When Sue and Gary Downs bought this Mt Eden villa after falling in love with its ornate, pressed steel ceilings they had no idea the grand old lady was still hiding some of her finest original features.
When they began renovating their house soon after buying it in 1995 they discovered beautiful fretwork at the front of the concrete, stucco and weatherboard villa, which was built in 1908.
Previous owners had boarded over the original wooden detailing and closed in the twin verandas of the square-fronted villa, which faces on to Fairview Rd, a tree-lined street that is easy walking distance to Mt Eden Village and near excellent bus routes.
The Downs could see past the scrim-lined walls, outside laundry, bathroom and that the house was in two flats, appreciating its central location, proximity to great schools and the potential of the sunny 895sq m site.
"We had always wanted to live in Mt Eden because we thought it would be a great area to raise a family and we also love the village," says Sue.
The Downs renovated the house before moving in because Sue was pregnant with their younger daughter, Sarah, and their older daughter, Catherine, was only a toddler.
They engaged architect Patrick Clifford to come up with a plan to modernise and extend the house, adding a large family room, kitchen, second bathroom, storage and a laundry while retaining and showcasing the home's best original features.
Landscaping the garden was left until after they had moved in so they had time to get a feel for the house, including how the sun travelled across it and what sort of plants would suit it best.
Sue says the backyard was a jungle when they tackled it and uncovered garden walls built out of local volcanic rock, probably more than 100 years ago when the house was built.
The walls were repaired where necessary and the contours of the garden were modified to include a second level lawn above the first to create extra playing space for the girls as they were growing up.
The lawns are encircled by striking native and exotic trees and palms, subtropicals and mature shrubs carefully chosen for their varied forms and textures.
Five years after the first renovation, Patrick Clifford again worked with the Downs to design a sleek, flat-roofed double garage at the front of the house, which freed up space previously wasted by a driveway and single garage at the back of the section.
The garage roof doubles as a pebbled garden and the formal landscaping at the front of the house includes a clipped hedge and scoria rock walls that match existing ones.
Like most traditional villas, this single-level home has a central hallway.
To the left of it are three bedrooms and a bathroom. To the right is a fourth large bedroom, which doubles as a study, and the formal dining room, which has the home's most ornate ceiling.
At the end of the hall, the open-plan living includes the family room, informal dining and a new kitchen with marble benchtops that was installed two years ago.
Bi-fold windows and doors connect this space to a wide, sheltered deck, which was extended a few years ago to provide more north-facing living and entertaining space.
