SCHOOL ZONES:
Murrays Bay School, Murrays Bay Intermediate, Rangitoto College.
CONTACT:
Nadja Court, Barfoot, 021 777 690.
*Plus off-street
The busy blended family who owns this modernised 1950s home have enjoyed a plum position just between the beach, the village and a sparkling backyard pool.
Grant Shields and Paula Kearns have seven children and two cats between them and recently added lab-rhodesian ridgeback rescue dog Junior and cocker spanielMilly to their brood.
Paula says: "Sometimes we're called 'The Brady Bunch'.
"This is an amazing location and lifestyle. We're 30 steps from the beach and probably less than that to Mairangi Bay's cafes and shops."
Their distinctive home is thought to have originated as a much smaller bach built around 1958 shortly before Auckland Harbour Bridge opened. Previous owners modified and extended it, but it retains some fetching 50s architectural features.
Of the property he moved to three years ago, Grant says: "It's got a great beachy-bachy feeling despite being so handy to everything."
The front of the house has a mono-pitch roof that covers part of an upper-level patio.
Sunny open-plan front living spreads out under pitched beamed ceilings soaring above polished native wood floors.
The creamy Hinuera stone of a big front chimney breast creates an accent outside and indoors.
A wall of stone starting outside becomes a feature wall inside.
Paula says: "Having big windows and the beautiful high ceilings makes the living feel light, sunny and really warm. I grew up in Ohope beach so I'm a big fan of the sun and I'm into really sunny houses."
The house is made of fibrolite with a textured finish, Hinuera stone and a block base. It is set slightly back from the road behind a front fence, lawn and garden, with off-street parking for cars or a boat plus an internal-access double garage.
The upstairs entry patio doubles as lounging space off the main living area.
The foyer-dining area-kitchen-living combo has a distinctive ambience thanks to its architecture, wooden floors, Hinuera stone and a trio of David Trubridge pendant lights.
Paula says: "My favourite place is in the lounge where you can open up the big original sliding windows and enjoy the sun or a breeze."
Imagine a giant version of those overlapping sliding doors that front mid-century sideboards and you'll get an idea of what these beach-facing windows look like.
The chimney breast harbours a gas fireplace, flat-screen TV and speakers.
Image 1 of 5: The fetching 50s features of what was once a holiday bach complement the clean lines of modern style in this family abode
Pulled pork is a popular dish Grant cooks in the chef's kitchen, which includes a big island, two ovens, double dish drawers and glossy white sliding doors the family can write on with erasable markers when organising the household.
Greg and Paula say the kitchen makes entertaining easy.
"Quite often we don't ever make it over to the table as everyone just stays sitting around the island where they've started out with a drink, watching Grant cook," says Paula.
She's CEO of Youthtown and Grant is a company director of a panel and paint company.
He let the kids choose their bedroom door colours, which are painted in a glossy two-pot finish.
A guest toilet, upmarket bathroom with free-standing bath and a study accompany the three bedrooms upstairs.
The master bedroom has an en suite and looks through a covered deck with zip-down walls, effectively another room, to the saltwater five-sided pool Mayfair Pools created for them before last summer.
They've also added heat pumps and new curtains, and recently re-carpeted bedrooms and had wooden floors re-polished.
Downstairs offers a second lounge, two more bedrooms, a third bathroom and separate laundry.
Paula's eldest daughter is flatting, but with up to six children and four pets in-house the family are thinking about moving somewhere with more land, possibly in the countryside.
