SCHOOL ZONES:
Greenhithe School, Albany Junior High, Albany Senior High.
CONTACT:
Gayle Aspden, Harcourts, 0274 931 013.
AUCTION:
March 15.
*Plus off-street parking
Ask Christine Rankin what's behind the bling and she'll run through the list: the proportions, height and a pale backdrop -- the perfect foundation for a splash of bright colour.
She's talking houses here, and the colour and sparkle that is a double-storey bush gem just minutes from Greenhithe village. But standing 1.8m in her bare feet and sporting bright pink lipstick and silver earrings, she could well be talking about herself.
After all, this is the same Christine Rankin who brought power suits, loud lipstick and over-blown earrings to her role as the head of Work and Income New Zealand back in the late 1990s, and who stood defiantly behind her brand when she unsuccessfully took the Government to the Employment Court for not renewing her contract.
That same brand has taken her into national and local body political life and into business as the head of her leadership company and -- at the day's end -- home to an aesthetic boasting the same defining statement.
As Christine wrote in her 2008 memoir Light the Flame, "I have always held the view that the image you portray reflects everything you do."
And here it all is in the home that reflects everything she and her husband Kim MacIntyre both love, including the 2.2m x 1.2m mirror that Kim, a builder/digger contractor, already owned (it fits the wall in the entrance within a whisker of the edges).
Elsewhere in this house, bright art adorns cream walls, the family room's curtains are "Holden green", and there is glamour in everything that counts. Their large dining room mirror reflects the view of the bush as well as the long dining table. "If the mirror reflects the table top then that is supposed to mean abundance," Christine says. "It is good Feng Shui."
Image 1 of 5: Charm, character and full of colourful life and personality -- Christine Rankin's abode is much like her
Christine is the first to spot the parallels between her personal style and how they live. These days there's a better balance to her life, and she credits Greenhithe for giving her "the happiest six years of my life".
Locals respect her space and she's happy to humour those who venture up and say "Oh, you haven't got your earrings on" or "Where are your earrings?" Digging into her stash of 500 she says, "I always keep a couple of pairs in the car and in my handbag."
Christine and Kim bought this home in January 2009, six months before they were married.
"We don't know what it was but there was something about Greenhithe that kept drawing us back when we were looking to buy," she says.
Built in 2000, with expansive outdoor and poolside decks framed by towering queen palms, this setting has provided the perfect social base for their blended family, which comprises five adult children and three grandchildren.
At Christmas, Christine and Kim set up their big trestle table in the atrium entrance for dinner, serving the food from their table in the dining room. Their visiting grandchildren sleep in the guest bedrooms upstairs off the central atrium, where more of Christine and Kim's adornments sparkle beneath the windows in the pitched roof.
Of the family vibe here, she says: "The older I get, the more I understand family is everything. My greatest regret is that I didn't have more children."
Now looking for a smaller house, they'll be taking with them their trademark bling, Kim's favourite American flag and the load of extra rustic cream floor tiles they ordered just because they loved them so much.
"I pray that they will do the whole house next time," says Christine.
