KEY POINTS:
This home and workspace was inspired by a form of American architecture not often seen in New Zealand.
51-53 Queen Street, Northcote Point.
This site that now houses a graceful example of American architecture has quite a history. Owner Grant Marshall found a clue to it when he was digging a drain. The giant horseshoes he pulled out of the ground were left by the draft horses that used to dwell in stables on this piece of land at the turn of the century. By day they would carry people and goods between the cart area nearby, and the ferry at the bottom of the hill.
By the 1920s a billiard hall and barber shop were built, encased by the tall brick wall that still stands along the southern boundary of the property. The buildings either side of the wall were later demolished, and for many years the empty site was a playground for local children.
Industrial designer Peter Haythornthwaite bought the site in the late 1980s, and in 1989 built this cedar-clad model of the Saltbox houses of Massechusetts on America's East Coast (named for their resemblance to the wooden boxes used to store salt in colonial times). He chose deciduous silver birches and pin oaks to plant around it to provide the autumn colour for which that part of the world is known. At this time of year, their russet leaves and the rich reds in the brick wall play off each other.
Grant and his wife Sally lived nearby, and "lusted" after the house every time they drove past it.
"Eventually we knocked on the door and asked Peter that if he ever wanted to sell, could he please call us first," says Grant. "And a little while later, in 1996, he did."
Peter had designed the twin pavilion structure to be both his home and business space, but his design company had outgrown it. Grant and Sally's advertising agency was, however, the perfect size to make use of the workshop and meeting rooms, and they could sleep upstairs.
A wide concrete path from the street leads you to a foyer, with a polished concrete floor and double-height multi-paned windows front and back. Through the back window you see the trunk of a silver birch, the ground around it scattered with autumn leaves. Above you floats a room which could be a meeting room or bedroom.
This home has many other rooms which could be used in a variety of ways. Those on the outside of the lower level open through sliding doors to the garden and those glorious trees. Some rooms have curved or sloping ceilings, and rich Tawa floors. The lounge is now almost devoid of furniture, yet Sally thinks that in this pure form the space is at its most beautiful.
"The whole house is a work of art, architecturally and in the meticulous way it was built," she says.
Upstairs, the main rooms have peaked ceilings crossed with thick beams, and open out to verandahs with arched, timber-sarked roofs.
Even the fence is a design statement, with its square, framed windows replicating those of the house.
Grant and Sally loved living and working in this house's spaces for eight years. They then decided on a change of lifestyle, sold their company and moved to set up a new agency from a new home on the Kaipara harbour. For the past three years they have leased this property, retaining it as a "backstop", but now feel the time has come to let it go.
VITAL STATISTICS
BEDROOMS: 4
BATHROOMS: 2
GARAGES: 2
*One bathroom installed, one area plumbed. Garage presently a workshop. Five offstreet parks.
SIZE: Land 723sq m, house 400sq m approx.
PRICE INDICATION: Prestigious properties in the area have sold for over $1.5 million. Tender closes May 25.
INSPECT: By appointment.
ON THE WEB: www.bayleys.co.nz # 451387
SCHOOL ZONES: Northcote Primary, Northcote College.
CONTACT: Victoria Bidwell or John Algie, Bayleys, ph 021 947 080 (Victoria), 021 772 932 (John).
FEATURES: Expansive home and workspace with rooms offering a variety of uses. Encircled by mature silver birches and pin oaks.
