SCHOOL ZONES:
Devonport Primary, Takapuna Grammar.
CONTACT:
Victoria Bidwell, 021 947 080, Bayleys.
AUCTION:
Tomorrow at 1.30pm.
Once sisters Claudia Page and Ruth Jackson start talking about the history of this early kauri villa there is no stopping them.
The house looks across the harbour to Mt Eden, Mt Hobson and the museum and has been lived in by members of the Jackson family -- many of them trailblazing New Zealanders -- for 118 years.
It is on the market for the first time in all those years and, as Ruth says, has not been "mucked around with" while being lovingly maintained.
It has great bones and for the new owners a transformation awaits.
Kauri floors are hidden beneath carpets, there are great high ceilings, a wide and airy hallway, roomy living spaces, heavy kauri doors, a covered veranda -- and a designer letterbox made to the specifications of the last owner, Gifford Jackson, who died last October, aged 93.
Uncle Gifford was a New Zealand icon, an industrial design pioneer who lived in New York for many years but returned to the home of his youth, turning what is now a front bedroom into his studio.
He designed everything from radios and stackable office in-trays to an iconic mix shower head, and one of those is still in the bathroom.
When he died, Claudia and Ruth -- who played here as children -- had to unpack what was a museum of family history.
Every cupboard and drawer was stuffed full of family documents and photos and there was a trunk of war memorabilia under the house.
In the front lounge with the bay window looking out to sea, they explain the house was originally owned by an early harbourmaster but was rented by their great-grandparents Jane and Frederick Ernest (FE) Jackson.
The couple raised nine children here but just after they were finally able to buy the house, tragedy struck.
Image 1 of 6: After 118 years, this kauri villa with views is a on the market for the first time. Photos / Ted Baghurst
In 1918 FE died while taking the waters at Rotorua, aged 57, not knowing his two eldest sons, Ernest and Alban, would soon die a week apart while fighting in the Somme during World War I.
Claudia and Ruth's grandfather Gainor, who was the third son, had now become the eldest.
He, too, was away fighting and played a key role in the Kiwi liberation of the French town of Le Quesnoy.
He returned home in 1919 only for his mother to die.
"So in the space of only 14 or 15 months, the Jackson family lost four members," says Claudia.
Gainor raised his family in the house, including Claudia and Ruth's father Phillip -- brother of Gifford the designer.
Granddad Gainor was a big character in the community. He was an advocate for a tunnel harbour crossing and stopped plans to build a marineland nearby, the sisters say.
Other relatives include a painter and an opera singer, and there are trail-blazing women in the family with connections to the house, including (on their mother's side) Elizabeth Pulman, who is thought to be New Zealand's first female professional photographer, and FE's sister Sarah, who was a JP and an early member of the National Council for Women.
Despite all the history, the house, with its 1970s wallpaper and art deco light fittings, is a blank canvas for the new owners who will get two double backed fireplaces and an outdoor laundry and toilet which could become a sleep-out or studio.
Though the sisters are sad to see the house go, they are also pragmatic, saying the wonderful childhood memories of climbing North Head up the road and of swimming at nearby Torpedo Bay and Cheltenham Beach won't fade just because the house is in new hands.
