Seamlessly blending Edwardian tradition with a minimalist Scandinavian aesthetic is the secret to the success of this striking Parnell renovation.
Kiwi Kelly Quinn and his Finnish-born wife, Kaisla, bought the early 1900s villa in mid-2008 after renting for several months in Remuera with their children, Liam, 11, and Linnea, 9, while they searched several suburbs for the right house to buy.
When the couple came to New Zealand in 2006 after living in Hong Kong for nine years, they moved to Tauranga.
"We thought we wanted a complete change of pace. We got that in spades."
After two years they moved to Auckland, where Kelly is a commercial barrister.
They liked the street appeal of the Stanwell St villa, its proximity to Kelly's work in the city, its zoning for Parnell School, Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar and also its 606sq m section.
The property is larger than most of those around it and has a double frontage which Kelly and Kaisla decided to leave unfenced so the house and front garden connect to the street.
They lived in the house for two years while thoroughly researching the work of architect Andrew Greenslade of Frame Architects, before briefing him to do the plans for what became an extensive, almost year-long renovation.
The brief to transform the 100sq m home included having bigger bedrooms, an office, better car parking and creating a spacious open plan living space that flows to the outdoors and capitalises on western views across to the city.
Kaisla wanted wooden floors throughout the house because she dislikes carpet and insisted on excellent storage space to avoid any feeling of clutter.
It was also important to create space for the family's books. These are displayed in four tall bookcases built into the sides of the wide central hallway.
Unlike many villa renovations where the new roofline slopes away from the rear of the original structure, high stud heights have been carried right through this house.
Image 1 of 11: 270515 NZH HOMES. 8 Stanwell Street, Parnell home of Kelly Quinn with son Liam, 11. Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
Its new, 110sq m addition is an impressive gallery-style space at the back of the house which has more than doubled its original size.
Skylights provide plenty of light in the kitchen, which is on the southeast side of the house and faces out to the open plan dining room and lounge.
A high central shelving unit made of American walnut divides the kitchen and dining spaces from the lounge.
Kaisla and Kelly did not want a TV to dominate the lounge so they have a projector and an electronically controlled large screen is retracted when not in use.
When you walk down the hallway and into this modern space your eye is drawn past the central shelving unit to a striking vertically panelled back wall that runs the length of the lounge and extends along the back of the outside deck.
Two identical brick fireplaces are set into this wall -- the one inside is gas fired and the one outside is solid fuel.
Expansive floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors separate the lounge and dining room from the deck, which is edged by a line of feijoa and citrus trees dividing it from a level, lower lawn.
Lemon trees have also been planted in place of a hedge in the front garden where a parking pad has space for two cars.
Matching floors in both the old and new areas of the house are beautiful, dark stained kauri -- some of it recycled from an Epsom villa.
All four bedrooms and the large main bathroom, which includes the laundry and wall-to-wall cupboards, are off the main hallway.
The property also includes a head-height basement and a large workshop that is concealed behind a high fence behind the back deck.
