History in the making in Takapuna

220 Lake Road, Takapuna. Photo / Ted Baghurst

220 LAKE RD, HAURAKI, AUCKLAND

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SIZE: Land 1047sq m, house 383sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest from $4 million to $5 million.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12.30-1.30pm.

ON THE WEB: precision.net.nz/246693

SCHOOL ZONES: Belmont and Bayswater schools, Belmont Intermediate, Takapuna Grammar.

CONTACT: Tom Kane, Precision, ph 489 1189 or 021 936 055.

FEATURES: Large three-bedroom, three-living room Arts and Crafts two-storey home with wide Hauraki Gulf views over the shipping channel to Rangitoto and Great Barrier islands. Original features include kauri and rimu floors, panelling, architraves and joinery, and leadlight windows. Wrap-around entertaining deck, spa and sauna. Self-contained one-bedroom flat above two-car garage and workshop.

Christine Munro was brought up in what she describes as "an older house in Lower Hutt" - wood panelling, period features and character.

So when she and husband Bruce were looking for a new home 18 years ago, the 1918 Arts and Crafts house at 220 Lake Rd grabbed her attention straight away.

"I said, 'I've come home'," she says, "even though I knew there was lots to be done. It wrapped around me and said 'Welcome'."

It was, she says, the abundance of kauri and rimu - in the floors, panelling and architraves - that made her feel so at home.

A grand kauri staircase, also with panelling, beautiful original leadlight windows and gas fireplaces added to the character. And from the lounge downstairs, and two of the bedrooms upstairs, the view of the Hauraki Gulf and all the ships and yachts going by was spectacular.

But beautiful and stately as it was, the three-bedroom home needed some work.

The kitchen was off to the right of the entrance, in the coldest part of the house, with no connection to the gulf view on the other side of the home; the upstairs bathroom was a bit of a mess; and the third bedroom, also upstairs, was small. From the gulf-side garden, the house didn't look balanced.

Christine and Bruce engaged architectural designer Fraser Gillies to design a renovation that was so successful it won an award for the best renovation over $100,000 in the 1999 House of the Year Awards.

Downstairs, the sun porch was extended to house a new kitchen and a light, airy informal family room, making the most of the gulf view through a semi-circular wall of bifold and French doors. The original feature leadlight window from the large formal dining room behind it was moved to a side wall in the new kitchen, and the whole extension merged seamlessly with the original lounge and study. The original kitchen became a large tiled laundry - but with the laundry hidden in a cupboard so the area can be used as a large cloakroom, or even a gym.

Upstairs, the family bathroom was remodelled, with the colour scheme chosen to match the forest green in its leadlight windows. Christine repeated this colour scheme in the new en-suite bathroom and the new, large downstairs bathroom, which flows into a sauna to the left of the main entrance.

The small bedroom upstairs was extended over the new kitchen and family space to become an equally light, airy - and large - master bedroom, with its own balcony and gulf view and, of course, a walk-in wardrobe next to the en suite.

From the outside, every part of this house looks original. And inside the designer and builders did something rather clever: they remilled all the kauri beams removed upstairs and used them to make bathroom and kitchen cabinetry. Even the "new" has history.

The result is a large, roomy family home with every modern convenience - but with a sense of history and character that captures you as soon as you step through the door.

"I think we have created here a home with all your comforts, and yet still with an ambience, a style, that lovely old feeling," says Christine.

The family has held two weddings here, catering for up to 100. Christine has hosted her parents' funerals from this home. And the grandchildren know the kauri box window seat in the lounge contains a treasure trove of toys.

"We've spent 18 lovely, lovely years here," says Christine. But Bruce is cutting back on his work hours, they want to spend more time up in Omaha, near their grandchildren, and travel more. Bruce and Christine have already bought a three-bedroom apartment nearby that will give them the lock-and-leave lifestyle they want, and now have to say goodbye to a home they really love. "I will be sad," says Christine. "I hope that whoever takes it on loves it as much as we do, and appreciates it as we have done."