Ponsonby: Mary's Melrose Place

TV personality Mary Lambie is saying goodbye to a home from her wild, single days.

16 Grace Square, 81 Vermont Street, Ponsonby.

Mary Lambie is finding letting go of her Ponsonby townhouse bittersweet.
The former host of TV One's Good Morning programme bought the property 12 years ago at a "fragile" time in her life - she'd just returned to New Zealand after three years in Japan, broken up with a boyfriend and felt the need to move on from the Grey Lynn villa she then owned.

"I was working at Communicado at the time with the lawyer Karen Soich, and visited her when she had a place here. I remember being really taken with the fact that in the middle of busy Ponsonby was this green, well-lit, beautiful, isolated enclave.
"About a week later this unit came up for sale. Maybe it was just meant to be."

For the next two years Mary had a fantastic time at her "Melrose Place". The complex, in which the units look in on a common green but are shielded from each other by trees, reminded her of the setting of the 90s TV show about singles in the city.

"I had a couple of really cool flatmates and we worked hard and played hard. We'd bring home lots of exotic food and wine, turn up the stereo and open the house to lots of comings and goings."

The townhouse is surprisingly spacious. From the front door you enter a hallway which is also accessed from the carport at the rear of the building. Upstairs is the living area, with a Juliet balcony framed by palms looking down onto the green.

The dining area and generous kitchen flow from the lounge, and out to a northeastern balcony that catches the morning sun. This balcony is big enough for a barbecue, and the master bedroom also opens onto it. The bedrooms are also a generous size, and the bathroom has room for a bath and a shower.

After Mary met her husband, James Mora, they moved to a bigger unit in the same complex, then on to a house. They now have three children under 4, including twins.

Mary has rented the unit to tenants for 10 years, and been a landlord for nearly 20, but needs to free up her time now she's a working mother.
"It's taken me a long time to get to the point of being willing to sell this place," she says. "Every time I come back here I still feel a great warmth toward the complex. It reminds me of that real blowout time you have when you're at a transition in your life. I wanted to be around people, but not feel like we were living on top of each other - it was just perfect."

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 2

BATHROOMS: 1

GARAGES: 1+

SIZE: 120sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: CV (2005) $600,000. Auction June 28.

INSPECT: Sunday 11.15-12pm.

ON THE WEB: www.meorealty.co.nz

CONTACT: Tricia Lafferty, Meo Realty, ph 021 611 205, 358 2948 a/h.

FEATURES: 15-year-old townhouse in leafy Melrose Place-type setting, just down the hill from Ponsonby Road. Two sunny balconies and a shared green.