NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Property

Modern touch in stately Drive

NZ Herald
9 Aug, 2013 05:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

147A Paritai Drive, Orakei. Photo / Ted Baghurst

147A Paritai Drive, Orakei. Photo / Ted Baghurst

147A PARITAI DRIVE, ORAKEI
5-6
4
5
SIZE: Land approximately 475sq m, house approximately 480sq m.
PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected in the early $4 millions. Expressions of interest by August 27 (unless sold prior).
INSPECT: Saturday/Sunday 1.30-2.15pm.
ON THE WEB: ljhooker.co.nz/NBGGFW
SCHOOL ZONES: Orakei School, Selwyn College.
CONTACT: Andrew Rumbles and David Storer, LJ Hooker Auckland Central, ph 021 383 938 (Andrew) or 021 400 000 (David).
FEATURES: Big, architecturally designed three- level home with multiple living spaces, entertainer's kitchen with scullery, master suite and oversized garaging, almost totally rebuilt in a premium overhaul.

Builder Gavin Whitmore has almost totally rebuilt this home in much-lauded Paritai Drive, creating a whole lot of premium living worthy of its location.

Gavin, who's been building for 25 years, bought the property seven years ago for his own household, encouraged by a previous partner keen on moving to the area.

"I'd built a new house in Ellerslie and had only been there about a year but this was too good an opportunity to turn down. This was a much nicer area, central and close to beaches. I like fishing and had a boat down at the Outdoor Boating club at the time.

"Originally it was a 50s house. Coincidentally my parents' friends' parents used to live here around the 50s or 60s. In '94 some developers popped its top. When I looked at it, it was vacant after being rented for seven years and it needed work."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Gavin lived here for five years while planning the alterations. "I chose architect Jim Stephenson because I've worked with him a lot before and his work is really well thought through."

The resulting well-insulated home is much bigger than what was here previously. "I think overall we've added about 2000 square feet, including the garage." A weatherboard top storey crowns the entry and basement levels in rendered brick and block.

"There really is just about nothing left of the old home," Gavin explains. "That whole upstairs came right off." He completely did away with the previous upper level, which had been plaster, including its framing.

Gavin lived onsite right through the project, accompanied by his beloved springer spaniel Anka. "You'd see people in passing cars do a double-take when they spotted Anka roaming around on the upper level scaffolding."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The fenced property with automatic entry gates is on the lower part of Paritai Drive, just after the first major bend past the Ngapipi Rd turn-off. Harley aficionado Gavin super-sized its former carport into five-car internal-access garaging with laundry, forming part of the basement level.

Inside the red front door there's a lounge-dining room with enclosed gas fire, which Gavin says really pumps out heat. The sunny kitchen-living room has solid oak floors and big bifold doors opening to the level front lawn irrigated with automated sprinklers. It's edged in garden and sits above the garage.

Sue Gillbanks of Kitchens By Design conceived the entertainers' kitchen with Miele appliances, including two ovens and two dishwashers, one in a separate scullery. An impressive marble bench teams with the tactile detail of a splashback of textural white tiles and doors in undulating wave board.

A pair of sunny front bedrooms accompanies the first of four bathrooms, featuring under-floor heating, Italian tiles, feature marble mosaic panels and tapware from SpazioCasa.

Discover more

New Zealand

'Do-up' proves its worth in auction

08 Aug 05:30 PM
New Zealand

Williams set to sell up

10 Aug 05:30 PM

The uppermost level includes an en suited bedroom with his 'n' hers walk-in wardrobes, a lounge and the master suite with waterfall spout filling its en suite's bath. A sun-drenched deck with stainless steel handrails looks over Hobson Bay.

The exposed pebble front driveway incorporates lighting, and slopes down, allowing the basement level to also have its own entrance. You can imagine teens or a nanny lapping up the roomy bedroom-lounge spread here, complete with built-in cupboards with sink, wall of wardrobes and bathroom.

Neighbours have been complimentary about the finished home. However, Gavin reckons his 3-year-old son Edward preferred it during the less precious building site stage, when he was allowed to ride his trike inside.

Now Gavin's completed the home he's decided it's too big for him, especially as his daughter has left to study at Victoria University.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Property

PropertyUpdated

Art collector's mansion sells for $7.75m as US buyers fly in for lifestyle estates

08 Jul 06:47 PM
PropertyUpdated

'Over 200mm of rain in 24 hours': Buyers hammered on costs told not to skimp on insurance

08 Jul 06:40 PM
PropertyUpdated

$1m deceased estate overlooking prestigious golf course for sale

08 Jul 06:25 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Property

Art collector's mansion sells for $7.75m as US buyers fly in for lifestyle estates

Art collector's mansion sells for $7.75m as US buyers fly in for lifestyle estates

08 Jul 06:47 PM

Local buyer nabs trophy home, but agent notes spike in overseas interest.

'Over 200mm of rain in 24 hours': Buyers hammered on costs told not to skimp on insurance

'Over 200mm of rain in 24 hours': Buyers hammered on costs told not to skimp on insurance

08 Jul 06:40 PM
$1m deceased estate overlooking prestigious golf course for sale

$1m deceased estate overlooking prestigious golf course for sale

08 Jul 06:25 PM
Beach elite trading up for the hot suburb next door

Beach elite trading up for the hot suburb next door

08 Jul 08:28 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP