Hamish Macalister and Lana Pham bought their Upland Rd home two years ago, when they were living in Singapore. Despite never setting foot in the house beforehand, Hamish and Lana bought it with confidence. After seeing the house online, Hamish did his research, realising it appealed "not just aesthetically, but financially as well" when compared to other properties in Auckland's city-fringe suburbs. His mother, Gillian, made a scouting trip and reported back, vouching for the home's "lovely family feel".
Thinking back to what it was about this house that caught their attention from Singapore, Australian Lana says she loved the home's windows, while Hamish says he liked the combination of its 1930s' traditional styling, along with a new kitchen and renovated bathrooms.
It wasn't until the family moved in with their young daughter, Georgia, now 4, that Hamish realised there was a family connection to the street. He had grown up in Kohimarama, but learned his late father's parents had lived in a neighbouring Upland Rd home, which they had purchased from the widow of the renowned painter, Charles Goldie. "So my father grew up in the house next door," Hamish says.
What Hamish and Lana discovered about the house, and what first-time visitors find out, too, is that from the road the house is quite deceptive in scale. "It doesn't look big, but it just expands as you go through it, until you come to the deck and lawn at the back," says Hamish. "But it looks like a little cottage from the front," says Lana.
