SCHOOL ZONES:
Mt Eden Normal Primary, Kowhai Intermediate; Mt Albert, Auckland and Epsom Girls’ grammars.
CONTACT:
Mike Robson, Harcourts, 021 484 288 or 632 1296.
*1 off-street space
Warwick Delmonte describes his Mt Eden home as "contemporary meets Ma and Pa Kettle".
It's an imaginative term for a 1920s workingman's cottage that has been updated for 21st century living. Warwick and his wife Sarah loved the character of the cottage they bought three years ago but knew theywould need to add an extension to create more space for them and their daughters Poppy and Georgia. They chose to make the new part modern in style to contrast with the original house, and the combination of the two works brilliantly together.
"The house had good bones and we could see what we could do to give it a body," says Warwick. "We had a good architect, Mike Henderson, who luckily did not throw his hands up in the air when we told him what we wanted to do. He made our ideas work."
The original part of the house has stayed much the same. There are two bedrooms at the front off a short hall that leads to the main living space. Here, the Delmontes didn't have to do much to the open plan kitchen, other than re-tile it, because they liked what previous owners had installed. The kitchen and dining spaces open out via bifold doors to a covered deck, and there are also doors from the living space to a side garden.
The third bedroom, which is used as a study, is off the living area, as is the spacious family bathroom.
The addition is accessed via the living room and turns the house into an L-shape. It contains a family room/library and the master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and en suite.
Image 1 of 5: Cottage has been transformed with an old-meets-new makeover and extension
This is where the house comes into its own. High ceilings create a feeling of spaciousness, and lots of windows and glass doors in all the rooms flood them with light. The extension has been designed so you can look from the living room through all the rooms to a picture window in the bathroom at the far end.
That bathroom is quite possibly the piece de resistance. Very large by normal bathroom standards, let alone en suites, it has a striking wooden herringbone floor, a large standalone tub, a stylish vanity unit that was a fortuitous Trade Me find, ranch sliders to a deck and an enormous black slate walk-in shower with its own door leading outside. The idea was to make it feel like an outdoor shower, explains Sarah, who is quick to point out that nobody can see in from outside once the shower steams up the glass door.
The house is not the only part of the property that has been transformed. The garden was a jungle when they moved in ("You could have hidden a small village out there," jokes Warwick) yet there wasn't a single blade of grass -- the ground around the tree trunks was covered in crazy paving.
When it came to reworking the garden, the Delmontes called on Sarah's mother, renowned landscape designer Lyn Eglinton. She helped them turn the jungle into a beautiful yet easy-to-maintain courtyard-style garden. There's an al fresco dining space, two areas of lawn and a selection of established trees, including a jacaranda.
The house is tucked away at the end of a no-exit lane and is very quiet, yet very close to Mt Eden Rd and just a short drive into the city. "It's a hidden little pocket," says Warwick. "I'm Mt Eden born and bred and I had no idea this little lane was here until we came to see the house."
They've decided to take the girls to live on land they own in the Wairarapa.
