Home on the range in Remuera

701 Remuera Rd, Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Geoff Dale

701 REMUERA RD REMUERA

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SIZE: Land 1191sq m, house 323sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: $1.8 million to $2 million. Auction March 19.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12.30pm-1.15pm; Wed, 5pm-6pm.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz

SCHOOL ZONES: Meadowbank School, Remuera Intermediate, Selwyn College, One Tree Hill College.

CONTACT: Russell Birkinshaw, Barfoot &Thompson Parnell, ph 0274 969 211.

FEATURES: 1927 Roy Lippincott house, built for himself and sympathetically extended and remodelled in 1987 and 1995 on the crest of Remuera Rd. Generous formal and informal living spaces, including many original features. Large family kitchen and family room, office with separate entrance and second storage garage, all tucked away up right of way.

With the affection that his buildings now hold in Aucklanders' hearts - the Old Arts Building at the university, the Smith & Caughey's building and Farmers (now the Heritage Hotel) - it is surprising to know that when the Chicago-school trained architect Roy Lippincott unveiled his first design for the city, it caused considerable controversy through the 1920s. Commentators castigated the Arts Building as "not in harmony with our national character", particularly loathing the Gothic ornamentation of the clock tower. Today his buildings are loved and revered.

The house that Lippincott built for his family at the crest of Remuera/Meadowbank was without the drama of his commercial work, and reflected the simplicity of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie-style homes (Lippincott worked on some of Lloyd Wright's famous projects before moving to Australia in 1914). It is not until you see photos of the original house, built in 1927, that you realise that some of the intriguing lines and levels of this concrete-plastered house were actually modern additions. The resulting layering of roof lines, windows and gardens is heart-stopping, as present owner Karen Shephard can testify when she first saw it in 2006.

"It was a real find. I wasn't even looking, but a friend who was house-hunting called me and said she'd found the perfect house for me," recalls Karen. "I knew immediately I had to have it, I just fell in love."

But sadly the love affair has to come to an end, as only a year after they had bought and redecorated the house, Karen's husband Paul found work in Abu Dhabi and the family relocated. They have no plans to return to Auckland, so are putting this important slice of Lippincott's domestic architecture on the market.

Karen knows the house intimately, pointing out where the previous owners added a large sunny kitchen and family room in 1987 and a generous sunroom in 1995. Other than fresh paint and decorating, the Shepherds had only to open up the formal dining room with French doors, the leadlighting carefully matched to the original front door and stair windows. This room, now decorated in a chic, but suitably 1920s-style Osborne & Little wallpaper, was the scene of terrific winter dinner parties, with guests adjoining to the large formal living room. With French doors to a courtyard and huge fireplace, it's an enticing winter space. Opening off it is the sunroom, with built-in banquettes and windows that fold back. This is the grown-ups' playroom, perfect for early-evening cocktails. The house changes levels in several places, creating intriguing plays of light and ceiling angles. On the main level the modern kitchen (complete with walk-in pantry) opens through more bifold windows to the pool and deck, and an airy family room. This split-level space is a magnet for friends and family all summer; a shower room and loo at the back of the house making the ideal changing room for swimmers.

The backyard of the house contains a charming potager garden, with original garden shed. There is further handy storage in a double garage, while the under-house carport has internal access. An office with separate access and its own terrace - the family called it the "bunny hole" - was used as a play/rumpus room, but history tells that Lippincott moved his practice back to the house during the depression, so it may well have been the place where important houses were designed.

Upstairs the four bedrooms have views around Auckland (in the master bedroom they stretch as far as the hills of Pakuranga), and the original built-in wardrobes, door furniture and, in one room, tapestry carpet. Karen believes the well-fitted master walk-in wardrobe is in the spot where the original one stood, and a second dressing room is off the en suite bathroom.

"This is such an easy house to live in. I never thought I could ever let it go, but with our lives established up there, one daughter at school in Sydney and the next about to start, we know we won't be coming back."