What's available
* 221 Ponsonby Rd: Vacant 455sq m two-unit corner site with res 7A zoning. CV $480,000.
* 223 Ponsonby Rd: Two-storey villa conversion in 4 x two-bedroom flats with a floor area of 265sq m (approx) on a 569sq m site with off-street parking. CV $980,000.
* 225 Ponsonby Rd: Two-storey villa conversion in 2 x three-bedroom flats with a floor area of 201sq m and upstairs deck on a 560sq m site with garaging. CV $900,000.
* For sale by negotiation. All offers by 4pm Wednesday 3 August 2011 (unless sold prior).
* Inspect: Sat/Sun 3-3.30pm, Wed 1-1.30pm.
* On the web: barfoot.co.nz/457315 (221) or 457320 (223) or 457535 (225).
* School zones: Freemans Bay School, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls' Grammar, Western Springs College.
* Contact: Marie-Anne Molloy, ph 027 357 8477, or Carl Madsen, ph 021 953 152, Barfoot & Thompson.
As the creator of boutique shopping precinct Parnell Village, Les Harvey was something of a visionary when it came to preserving and converting old buildings.
Part of his vision was that son Kevin would join the family property business, City Construction, which owned character buildings in Parnell, Ponsonby and downtown Auckland.
When Les bought the two-storey kauri villas at 223 and 225 Ponsonby Rd in the early 70s, he enlisted Kevin and a mate to convert them into flats.
"When Dad bought them I had been living up North, doing a lot of surfing and had just been on the big OE," says Kevin. "Dad wanted me to learn the business, starting as a non-qualified barrow boy and converting those houses was one of my first projects.
"The old man played an active part in the project, trying to keep us under control and stopping us going surfing. He'd stand down in among the rubble in these pyjama bottoms he used to wear sometimes and these Arab-style slippers and he'd get stuck into us and tell us to put our backs into it."
Kevin says his late father bought the properties, including the subsequent purchase of the neighbouring section at No 221 on the corner of Ponsonby Rd and Pember Reeves St, because he could see their potential.
"He used to have a feeling that certain places were beautiful and this place has amazing views of the city and harbour on one side and out to the Waitakeres on the other," says Kevin.
Though the two weatherboard homes have been converted into flats, they still retain character features such as bay windows, open fireplaces and polished wooden floors. The house at 225 probably has the grander facade, with a wrap-around veranda supported by columns. There are also outbuildings associated with each of the homes: 223 has a large shed with a laundry for each of the four flats, while 225 has a garage to the side and an old shed out the back.
Tenanting the homes was supposed to be a short-term measure, because what Les had in mind for the Ponsonby Rd site was creating a slightly different version of what he had done with Parnell Village, a collection of old houses at the top of Parnell Rise, which were rebuilt into a charming grouping of boutiques shops, cafes and restaurants, enlivened by trees and sunny bricked courtyards.
"The way Dad saw it you would have a beautiful terraced building like they have in Sydney, with a retail block downstairs with maybe a coffee bar, shops or a bookstore and a lovely forecourt for the afternoon sun," says Kevin. "There would be two residential levels upstairs, staggered to the east."
However, Kevin says that dream foundered because of bureaucratic resistance. "We may be selling them too early, but we are just not up to the battle with the council," he says.
The properties are in a family trust named after Kevin's late mother Zena, who passed away earlier this year. Kevin, his brother and his sister have decided to sell the three properties to free up a bit of capital.
But City Construction will continue to uphold Les' legacy of creating "magic" with the many character buildings it still owns.
"Parnell Village wasn't a restoration; it was creating a little fantasy," says Kevin. "For people to enjoy our history they need to work in it, live in it and have food in it.
"It does our hearts good to see the atmosphere at Parnell, to see the place buzzing and that's what it's all about."
