Grey Lynn: Added value

Address: 114 Crummer Rd, Grey Lynn.

When house repiler Gary Harvey bought 114 Crummer Rd as a do-up project last year, the first big question was what to do about the turret.

An upstairs room had been added in the 1980s, but access was by ladder rather than stairs.
``I was thinking of extending it as the master bedroom, but in the end I decided it was better to go for off-street parking. That's what's needed in this area,'' says Harvey.

He dismantled the upper storey and dug out the basement for a huge garage/workshop/storage area, linked to the living room with an internal staircase. The space could take two or three vehicles, but not side by side. There is additional room for three or four vehicles outside.

The back was rotting into the ground, so Harvey rebuilt it, adding an extra 3.6m to create a big living area stretching across the width of the house.

A large kitchen area juts out further, creating an L shape to shelter the large deck. Bifold doors mean half the back wall can be opened onto the deck in summer.

The kitchen features a five hob gas stove. For those wanting to cook outdoors, there is a gas outlet on the outside of the house and one built into the garden wall.

A shed against the back fence was replaced with a pergola, creating a north-facing place to sit.

Harvey is as local as you get in the greater Ponsonby area. He was born in Newton Road, before the area was cleared for motorways.
``I missed walking over the Harbour Bridge the day it opened, because that was the day we moved to Avondale,'' he recalls.

He was soon back within hail of Ponsonby Road, and has stayed ever since.

Having repiled or lifted a lot of the houses in the world's largest wooden Victorian suburb, he has a feel for what is right. That means the house at 114 Crummer Road feels original, even if it isn't.

The front door came from a demolition yard in Te Aroha. The triple sash windows in the living room came out of a farmhouse at Te Kauwhata. A leadlight window in the same room came out of a Parnell house. Another matched pair of leadlights Harvey came across in his travels balance each other in the two front bedrooms.

The kauri boards needed for the extra floor area in the back came from a demolished house in Scanlan Street, the joins sealed with two-pot epoxy to keep the place snug, then coated with five layers of varnish.

Harvey says the original hallway was narrow and twisted. He moved walls and doors to create a straight shot to the back of the house.

The master bedroom includes a walk in dressing room and an en suite bathroom. The main bathroom has a clawfoot bath and underfloor heating, for those chilly winter mornings.

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGES: 2+

SIZE: Land 429sq m, house 196sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: $950,000+. Auction July 19.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 11am-12pm, Wed 5-6pm.

CONTACT: Rick Thevenard, Barfoot & Thompson, 027 448 1888, 638 9158.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz/343866

FEATURES: Rebuilt, modernised and extended villa. Designer bathrooms with heated flooring. Open plan living, gas heater. Bifolds open to large deck. Close to supermarket and shops.