SCHOOL ZONES:
Shelly Park Primary, Somerville Intermediate, Howick College.
CONTACT:
Anne-Marie Koszegi, 021 333 112, or Victoria Koszegi, 021 029 67430, Barfoot & Thompson.
*Plus two-bedroom, one-bathroom townhouse with double garaging
When Susan and Asbjorn Widvey put pen to paper to sketch their new family home they did so with an expansive perspective.
It was natural that they would reflect the curves of the coastline in the form of their house.
And with their three Norwegian-born pre-schoolers in tow, they wanted the best home to see them through all the stages of their family life.
With a sheaf of drawings in hand, Susan and Asbjorn met graduate architect Kim Veltman on site to begin the process to have this sweeping double-storey home built as their permanent home.
That was back in 2006, six years after they bought this property while on holiday from Asbjorn's birthplace Norway where he met his Howick-born wife Susan and where they started their family.
"We wanted to build a house that would suit us as the kids grew into teenagers, so there would be no reason for us to move," says Susan, a newly qualified nurse. Marcus now 15, was almost 6 when the family moved here. Isabella is now 13 and Alexander is 11. Nathalia, 7, was born after the family moved here.
During the building process, the family lived in a home they owned next door. This enabled Asbjorn, a structural engineer and property developer in Norway, to be on site each day to oversee all matters from the foundations to the fine interior detailing.
It also helped cut the building time down from two years to nine months.
Construction challenges included proximity to the neighbouring house and the clifftop.
The positives included the existing in-ground pool and the footprint of the original home, which confirmed the stability of the land underneath.
Image 1 of 6: This family home was built to echo the curves of the surrounding coastline.
Built of American cedar and plastered German Hebel block, this home unfolds beyond schist stone pillars into the lobby and on to multiple downstairs living areas and their sheltered, seaside balconies. Stairs at each end of the house and the dramatic connecting bridge across the lobby ensure easy access to all six upstairs bedrooms, each of which has a sea view.
Retreats for the children include their central lounge upstairs and a loft above the guest bedroom. For adults, the formal library -- which has one of the four fireplaces in the house -- is thoughtfully positioned near the wine cellars and guest bathroom.
"Everyone has their space but at the same time we all still feel very connected," says Susan.
"We all use the entire house, which may surprise some people but not us. There are certainly no rooms that are closed off or not used."
Asbjorn's cherished timber detailing is in the architraves around the 2.4m high interior doors and in the wave-like American cedar ceiling in the master en suite.
His multiple pages of drawings for the architect included a diagonal line for the kitchen tiles and the adjacent African Iroko timber flooring, all of which is finished with a perimeter timber edging.
The square pillars en route to the dining area from the main lounge were the architect's touch, designed to draw the eye into the room.
Outdoors the children have lived the dream with chickens and baby turkeys in residence for a time.
And at the front of the property near the tenanted stand-alone, two-bedroom guest house, Nathalia has a two-storey miniature Norwegian-style playhouse built by her father.
That house will go with their family to their next residence, a home/renovation project on rural land in Whitford that they're all hankering to embrace.
