SCHOOL ZONES:
Maungawhau Primary, Mt Albert Grammar.
CONTACT:
Mike Robson, 021 484 288 or 632 1296, or James Wang, 021 658 357 or 947 6160, Harcourts.
AUCTION:
April 6.
It's a sign of a good renovation when you can scarcely recall what your house was like before the work was carried out.
Janet McWilliams and Shane Gowan discovered this after a makeover of their Mt Eden home two years ago. The work wasn't major, but it was enough to make the house easier to live in. "It was just right, and it looked as if that was how the house should have always been," says Janet.
She says their architect, Richard Furze, instantly understood what was needed to update the 1920s bungalow that Janet and Shane had bought six years earlier.
Previous owners had carried out an extensive renovation, pushing out the rear of the house and adding an internal access double garage with another room above it.
Janet and Shane appreciated the extra space it provided, but decided it was time to rejig the house further.
One of the main things they asked Richard to do was create a stylish en suite from a small bedroom next to the master bedroom.
They also used part of that bedroom to give their daughter Emma more space in her room on the other side. Meanwhile, son Benjamin's room further down the hallway was also enlarged by taking space from the family bathroom next door. "It was a very large bathroom with a lot of wasted space so we just moved a few things around."
Once the en suite was added, another bathroom off the main living area became surplus to requirements, so Richard suggested turning it into a study.
Another of his ideas was to put glass doors on the eastern side of the living room, and, as a result, the sun pours in during the morning.
Image 1 of 4: After a previous extensive reno, only a few tweaks here and there were needed, and this home is now just right. Photos / Ted Baghurst
The room above the garage hasn't been altered, but there is space to add an en suite if it was being used as a fourth bedroom.
The whole family slept here while work was being carried out on their bedrooms, and Emma and Benjamin currently use it as a playroom.
The open plan living area runs the length of the house, with two distinct sitting areas, one casual and the other more formal, separated by the kitchen and dining space.
The kitchen didn't need any work -- Janet and Shane were more than happy with the stone benchtops, ample storage and central island, around which visitors tend to congregate.
The casual lounge at the front of the house has a gas fire and built-in bookcases and is the ideal place to curl up with a book. At the other end, the spacious formal sitting area is flooded with light thanks to several skylights, and glass doors to the garden.
A paved patio has been the perfect place to entertain, and the roomy garden has been well used by Emma, Benjamin and their friends over the years. A gate in the fence leads to Pollard Park, which backs onto the property. The back garden has numerous olive trees, and the front one is home to a stately pohutukawa.
The makeover has helped make the house ideal for 21st century living, but it still has many of the traditional features that give it so much character, like the tongue-and-groove ceiling above the kitchen, original matai floors and pretty leadlight windows.
Working with Richard on the house was such a pleasurable experience that Janet and Shane would like to repeat it. They've bought a house in need of a renovation, and will be hiring Richard to work his magic once more.
"I would definitely recommend using an architect if you're planning on renovating," she says. "They can see all the little details you don't always think about."
