SCHOOL ZONES:
Milford primary, Takapuna Intermediate, Westlake Girls and Boys.
CONTACT:
Jo Glancy, Harcourts, 021 994 874.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:
Close Thurs May 18, 4 pm.
There is a severe occupational hazard in Sharon Laffan's job.
As owner of home-staging business Living Edge, she can spot the potential of some of the city's most interesting properties, which has given her itchy feet more than once in her home-owning history.
It was how she and husband Marius came to buy their gracious hilltop bungalow overlooking Rangitoto and Milford, and now it is the reason they are selling after only two years in the house.
"That's the trouble being in my line of business," she says. "This is my passion, doing a renovation. I fall in love with the dream, and now I've done it again with a country property in Waimauku.
It was the same with this house. We weren't looking; we were renovating a property in Mission Bay, but as soon as we walked through the gate we had this feeling of peace and privacy.
"The minute we saw this we knew we had to move here."
Sharon credits the former owners for their seamless renovation of the 1910 property, one of the original big family homes in Milford.
At some point in the 1980s the single level bungalow had been doubled in size, with a semi-self-contained unit being carved out of the ground floor and an entire top floor added.
The matching of roof-lines, windows, even the shingle and dentil trims was done so carefully that it is hard to believe the gracious porches and Arts and Crafts details are not original.
More recent owners updated bathrooms and installed a new kitchen and landscaped the garden that so appealed to the couple when they saw it.
Sharon underplays somewhat the finishing work she did - changing paintwork to a clean, crisp white, installing smart shutters at all the windows, sourcing standout wallpapers for the powder room and master bedroom - but the clever arrangement of the house in its garden, and the stunning views across the treed valley of Milford to the water are constant.
The front garden, tucked behind a high fence, is terraced with a variety of clipped hedges, formal to suit the period of the house.
The entry porch was extended in the renovations to create one of several inviting covered sitting areas.
The sunniest corner of the garden has a paved dining area opening via french doors from the dining room and kitchen.
There's another even more enticing covered porch off the family room with a classic shingled arch opening to frame those water views.
The ground floor living rooms opens to more terraced gardens, the perfect place for the couple's vege gardens and fruit trees.
The original wood floors, stained a fashionable dark brown, and high coffered ceilings, plus diamond-paned french doors and a leadlight bay window in the formal sitting room were what attracted Sharon and Marius to the house.
Sharon could see how her collections of antiques and art - which have moved with her from house to house - could work in the spaces.
She admits the casual family room next to the kitchen and dining room gets the most use - either on the covered porch on a nice day, or cosied up in the big daybed fitted into the octagonal bay window (the drawers underneath are handy for overflow kitchen storage).
The only thing she needed to add to the kitchen, already in keeping with the style of the house with its panelled cupboards and chunky marble benches, was a pair of pendant lights in a matching marble.
In fact, updating light fixtures became a signature of Sharon's revamp of the house - starting with a stunning Jamie Hayon chandelier in the curved stair well, well-considered black and gold fittings from ECC and, in the bedrooms, charming hand-made linen and woven lampshades.
She also played with contrast, adding a concrete-look wallpaper to the traditional master bedroom headboard (a closet tucks smartly behind) and a playful paper in the downstairs loo.
The double bedrooms on the upper floor each have quirky sloping ceilings and views of garden or sea.
A media room at the top of the stairs gets plenty of winter sports-viewing time, while the rooftop balcony is where the couple and their guests spend long summer days - open entirely to the views through its glass balustrades, it has breathtaking views across the valley to the sea, Rangitoto front and centre.
Down in the lower ground floor the couple had toyed with turning the floor into a self-contained apartment for Sharon's parents, as it has a pretty sitting room opening to its own courtyard garden, a seperate bedroom and bathroom, and would only need the big laundry converted to a kitchen.
This will have to wait for the next owners to play with, perhaps turning it over to teenagers or nanny or guests.
Sharon and Marius have loved being able to head down to Milford beach from the path at the bottom of the street to walk kelpie puppy Ezra, and enjoyed the easy access to the shops and growing number of cool cafes in their neighbourhood.
The next owners will benefit from Sharon's stylish update, and have nothing to do but enjoy this home and all it offers.
