KEY POINTS:
The gentrifying area of northern Mt Eden is a fair distance from New South Wales. But when Mt Eden builder Achilles (Ark) Neueli and Sarah Cameron were at a family wedding in North Sydney a decade back, he was blown away by its colourful Federation houses.
11 Horopito Street, Mt Eden.
The memory was so strong it influenced the look for a do-up he bought in Horopito Street four years ago.
Unlike the wooden villas making up most of Mt Eden, Federation houses are generally brick and tile and predominantly red or terracotta colours.
It's believed this house was built circa 1910 - smack in the middle of the Federation period (1900-1916). In the past, says next door neighbour Barbara Moore, who's lived in the area for decades, it housed groups such as the Methodist Church, girls on a working holiday, and stoical Buddhist monks who took cold baths outside.
The villa had been heavily modified before it was bought by Ark and Sarah, who live in the house behind it. For example, previous owners built an ugly concrete front terrace, knocked down internal walls, exposed the living-room fireplace and added an en suite.
Choosing exactly the right colours was difficult, and as Auckland's sun is hard on paint, Ark toned the colours up slightly to a reddish-orange, clayish yellow and deep sea blue.
He loves the effect - can't bear the idea of someone repainting the house white one day - but admits the odd person politely says it's not quite their cup of tea.
Nevertheless, it's a stunning effect. Entering from the street, the first sight is Australian-looking concrete fence pillars which Ark had cast in situ.
They support substantial wooden gates, opening onto a white pebble path that leads up to a new terrace and leadlight windows.
The leadlights have a vaguely Pacific Island style, but fit with the house's bright, hard-to-miss colours. Above, one of Ark's men has restored much of the previously decaying fretwork.
Ark built a new wooden terrace over the concrete one and covered in the exposed brick chimney which ``looked like it would fall over''. He also added a skylight in the kitchen and rebuilt the back terrace.
The interior is otherwise pretty much like most modernised villas, with high ceilings and polished native timber floors.
He reduced the section size to 400sq m, by adding on to their own section at the back, but there is sufficient room for off-street parking, a front yard and back terrace. It has been a fairly extensive do-up - but is not quite complete inside.
The location (off the city end of Dominion Rd) is within walking distance of town and is quiet and green for the city-fringe. Ark used the front rooms for an office for a while.
Sarah, who wrote a thesis on villas when completing her architecture degree, says few villas are unmodified. All the villas in the street are quite different if you look closely, she says.
The variety indicates the surrounding houses were built by different tradesmen -rather than one spec firm. None look quite like this house, though.
VITAL STATISTICS
BEDROOMS: 5
BATHROOMS: 2
GARAGES: *
SIZE: Land 400sq m, house 164sq m.
PRICE INDICATION: High $700,000s to low $800,000s. Auction November 29.
INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12-12.45pm.
ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz # 351888
SCHOOL ZONES: Mt Eden Normal primary, Auckland Girls and Auckland Boys grammar.
CONTACT: John Elgar, Barfoot & Thompson, ph 360 2323 bus, 027 477 3442, 638 6847 a/h.
FEATURES: Federation villa with a unique colour scheme. Terraces front and back. Walking distance to Mt Eden, Dominion Road and five minutes drive to town.
*No garage but has off-street parking.
