KEY POINTS:
A garden designer has added a dramatic entrance to what was an already intriguing bungalow.
25 Hemi Street, Narrow Neck, North Shore.
Nine years ago Cilla and Len Cooper chanced upon a large renovated bungalow that was like nothing they'd ever seen.
"The person who modernised it in the 1980s was a German cabinet maker, and he arrived with a container-load of fittings from Europe. It was unusual when we saw it, but must have been revolutionary back in the 80s."
While the large, asymmetric windows wrapping the living room were unusual stylistically, they also have dual opening to make the best of the sea breezes from Narrow Neck Beach down the road.
But because they were so large, and the picket fence so low, something had to be done. Cilla, who makes her living as a garden designer, had plenty of ideas. Chief among them, she knew that apart from improving the privacy she "also wanted to give a real sense of arrival".
She certainly achieved that. If the pool with its perforated steel bridge filling the space between the gate and the front door is not eye-catching enough in daylight, it is even more of a show-stopper at night.
Under-lit by fibre optics, it has featured in a number of books, magazines and TV programmes, and in 2004 won Gold in the Landscape Industry Association Awards.
Lush sub-tropical plantings which can be glimpsed through breaks in the high block walls, add to the glamour.
Inside the house is equally intriguing. The sarked rimu ceilings of the living spaces, the lofts that lead off from some of the bedrooms and the asymmetry of various interior walls, all demonstrate the interest its German owner had in making it a home outside the norm.
"We've added skylights and given it more indoor-outdoor flow, but most of all we spent our time developing the guest quarters out of what was part of the garage," says Cilla.
"The whole house has such a flexible layout that we've moved from bedroom to bedroom as the children grew up. As teenagers they used the space at the back as their own, it was perfect for them."
So too, for a keen entertainer such as Cilla, is the U-shaped courtyard which links the kitchen, the dining room and two more of the bedrooms.
"It's so close to the kitchen that you never feel cut off when you're getting things ready, and it's so sheltered we can use it for most of the year."
What Len will find hard to give up is the garaging that once housed the cabinetmaker's workshop. Big enough for three cars or simply boats and toys, it is of a size seldom found on a city section.
Len and Cilla have bought a camper van and are looking forward to travelling the highways now that the children have left home.
VITAL STATISTICS
BEDROOMS: 4
BATHROOMS: 2
GARAGES: 3+
SIZE: Land 668sq m, house 250sq m (approx).
PRICE INDICATION: $1 million-plus. Tender closes March 7.
INSPECT: Sun 1-1.45pm, Wed 8-8.30pm.
ON THE WEB: www.harcourts.co.nz # DP070202
SCHOOL ZONES: Vauxhall Primary, Belmont Primary and Intermediate, Takapuna Grammar.
CONTACT: Maria Stevens, Harcourts, ph 446 2110 bus, 021 979 084 mob.
FEATURES: Large family bungalow with an award winning subtropical garden. Flexible layout around a semi-enclosed courtyard.
