Grafton: Deco devotion

A determined apartment owner has not only restored his pad but driven the renovation of the building.

3/11 Whitaker Pl, Grafton.

Apartment living is not always associated with affairs of the heart. More often, it serves as a no-frills student base or easy living for the baby boomer down-sizer who wants nothing more but to lock up and leave.

Not so with Max Harnden. Back in 1994 when he bought an apartment in the iconic Horace Massey-designed deco apartment block, Cintra Court, he was in for the long haul.

"I'd been looking for a while and when I found this it was an unpolished gem just waiting to get the sparkle back."
Setting to with a will he resurrected the ailing body corporate, and with the co-operation of the other owners in the block, embarked not only on the renovation of his own flat but on the common parts of the building as well.

As a result of patient chipping away at the "big ticket items," this block of only five apartments is now a glowing example of how it would have looked in its heyday back in 1936.

Last year $15,000 was spent on restoring the lobby and stairwell area, complete with mending the original but damaged stained glass window that gives light and drama to the stairwell.

"It's been a huge job, but now any incoming owner only has to worry about ongoing small things. All the big spending has been done."
Not only has the larger building been restored with loving care. Max's own two-bedroom apartment, while original in every detail apart from its state of the art bathroom, looks almost as new as it would have 70 years ago.

The steel windows were painstakingly stripped, mended where rusty and re-glazed; the original 30s fittings were stripped of decades of paint. Even the light switches are original although the wiring behind them is not.

But it is outside that the true surprises start. Although now a low-rise haven among a forest of tower blocks, Max's flat has outdoor living.

"When I bought it I didn't realise that a strip of land behind the garage actually belonged to this flat. It meant that I could make a courtyard out the French doors off the dining room, and also have a garden all the way along the side. In summer the vines cover the whole of the fence so that it is completely private."

A further bonus is that through a strange quirk of geography there is virtually no traffic noise.
"You can't get more central than Whitaker Place but I love being able to lie in bed and look out into the garden and not only can no-one look in, but it is so quiet I can hear the tuis going mad in the pohutukawa."

Although he's moving on, Max is not going far. He has bought a flat in the as yet un-restored block next door.
"These flats are like Aladdin's cave. Until you go inside you don't know what you are going to find. The one next door is even bigger than this one but very tired. I imagine it will take just as long as this has to get right but it'll be worth it."

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 2

BATHROOMS: 1

GARAGE: 1+

SIZE: 95sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected upwards of $480,000. Auction June 21.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 11-11.45am.

CONTACT: Diane Jackson, Bayleys, ph 309 6020 bus, 021 315 339 mob.

ON THE WEB: www.bayleys.co.nz/42796.

FEATURES: Horace Massey-designed deco apartment in a small character complex complete with a garage, visitor parking and a garden.