Looking back, Charlotte Purdy can see that it was a good move to buy her first home before Auckland house prices went crazy.
But that wasn't why she bought her Eden Terrace home.
"I bought my first house when I was 26 and that wasn't because I thought it was going to be a good investment or anything like that," she says. "It was because I loved the history and character of old homes."
And that was the same reason she moved on to this Ponsonby square-front villa.
She found it after looking for more than a year. Charlotte and her partner attended the last open home before the auction and didn't need to look at it again, knowing it was the one for them.
Nine years ago, they paid what Charlotte thought was top dollar at the time, and were prepared to go higher to get the home they wanted.
"But I've never regretted it," she says. "It's been such a great home. Every day you come out into the living room it's filled with sun and you can see the Waitakeres and in summer you get the most amazing sunsets."
Charlotte's love of history is displayed on her hallway walls with pictures of Auckland and its buildings from yesteryear.
From the street, the villa sits behind a high fence with a gravelled courtyard and river stone garden beds with palms and succulents in front of its veranda.
Image 1 of 6: Character features abound in this much loved square-front villa. Photos / Ted Baghurst
Inside, it retains character features such as kauri floorboards, board-and-batten ceilings and sash windows. The two bedrooms at the front of the house have large windows and one of the rooms has a fireplace that backs on to the one in the lounge.
The hallway leads to a large open-plan area with a study off to one side.
"We make documentaries out of that study but now we've got a lot more work so we need a bigger space," says Charlotte of her company Rogue Productions.
With Rogue Productions doing a TV chat show with singer/songwriter Anika Moa called All Talk -- due to screen on Maori TV next month -- and also working on a documentary about Melbourne Cup champion racehorse Kiwi, Charlotte says they have been forced to move to a home with more workspace.
Before making the move to Grey Lynn, they had plans drawn up to put a studio in the back yard but decided that it would be easier to buy a new home.
"I also loved the idea of going up because you would have had views of the water but that was going to be really expensive," says Charlotte.
A renovated kitchen with island/breakfast bar has west-facing windows and opens to a deck along the back of the house. Landscaping the back yard was one of the few things Charlotte and her partner did to the house, which had been renovated before they moved in.
The northwest corner of the house has a large, tiled bathroom with walk-in shower and a standalone bath that drinks in the west-facing views and sunsets.
Charlotte says she never thought she would have to sell this home but her business has outgrown it.
