SCHOOL ZONES:
Manurewa Central School, Manurewa Intermediate, Manurewa High School.
CONTACT:
Chris Moreton, Mike Pero Real Estate, ph 215 2880 or 021 335 021.
FEATURES:
Early 1920s cottage renovated in classic 1970s style, complete with crafted pottery fittings by renowned potter Peter Stichbury. Includes tiled, covered terraces; generous living room and family room; sunroom and workshop/bedrooms. Secluded up a right-of-way, the magical garden includes native trees, outbuildings, a studio and treehouse.
It is very rare that a house comes on to the market that is more than the sum of its parts. There are houses which are a cool combination of vintage cottage and of-the-moment mid-century additions. There are houses with lush pockets of bush in suburban neighbourhoods. There are propertieswith outbuildings that could be put to multiple uses. But it is rare that this package comes with something else: a provenance of one of New Zealand's leading studio potters, Peter Stichbury.
Peter and his wife, Diane, are finally selling their family house of almost 50 years. Peter is 87. He stopped potting a few years ago and dismantled his kilns, and the couple have finally acknowledged that they no longer need the weight of a large family house on a huge section. When they bought the property - nearly an acre carved off a larger five-acre farm on Great South Rd on the edge of Manurewa - it was a ramshackle 1928 cottage and a series of farm outbuildings. Peter was an art lecturer at Ardmore Teachers' College, but wanted more space to spread out with his work. The couple wanted to bring students into a real working pottery, to do intensive workshops then display the work. They also had two children - a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old baby - to house when they bought in 1963.
"We had £190 in our savings which was just enough to pay the stamp duty. The whole place was £5500. People thought we were mad," recalls Peter. "It was stucco and concrete, but it wasn't lined. There were gaps between the floorboards and the linings would flap in and out in the wind," says Diane. But with an artist's budget and an artist's eye, Peter knew what he could do to make the property work - even though it took him some time to renovate the house.
"Some days I used to walk around with my knife and pan to try to find somewhere to start cooking dinner," says Diane.
"But we knew that potting was a way of life. It is not a job and we were very lucky to have the life that we had."
Peter does concede that at one point he considered being an architect, and from the style of the renovations you can see he had an eye on par with leading designers of the 1960s and 70s. The north east-facing living room has the raked ceilings, clerestory windows and huge glass sliding doors of a contemporary house, lined with shelves to display Peter's work. He built the kitchen and much of the house's rimu cabinetry - all with magnificent pottery handles - and the couple rearranged the bedrooms to create more family-friendly spaces. One of the largest bedrooms was knocked through from two rooms which was always the three girls' bedroom and playroom. When they left home it was lined with vintage lockers and Diane's loom to make a perfect weaving studio.
The master bedroom and guest room both open on to a tiled terrace looking into the garden, their bevelled-glass French doors recycled from inside the house. There are plenty of nooks and crannies and walls to display art.
A study off the master bedroom has been a nursery, while the expansive closed-in front porch collects the evening sun. Off the kitchen is the couple's favourite place - a covered veranda that attracts all-day sun and is the second dining room, year-round.
The garden has remnants of early bush in the area - a giant kahikatea is the centrepiece - with charming outbuildings tucked all around. A particular favourite of the girls, and now the grandchildren, is a tree house: Diane still sleeps out there with small guests in summer. The original stable is now a storeroom, and Peter's double studio begs to be used again (a single garage is attached to this).
"Of course we are very sad to be leaving here," says Diane. "But it is lovely to think that another family can have the fantastic life here that we had. We had a wonderful life, we've had many special international potters through here. Our open day [today] is really to remember the big days we used to have when Peter and his students would display their work all around the garden and people would come from all over to see the exhibitions."
