Peak practice in Mt Albert

Argent House, 717 New North Road, Mt Albert. Photo / Ted Baghurst

ARGENT HOUSE 717 NEW NORTH RD MT ALBERT

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SIZE: Land 1530sq m; house approx 340sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Similar-sized properties in the area have sold for between $1.2 and $1.6 million. Auction Sunday, February 20 (unless sold prior).

INSPECT: Sat 3pm-3.45pm this weekend and Sat/Sun 3pm-3.45pm next weekend, or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: www.rwkingsland.co.nz/ KGL20547

SCHOOL ZONES: Mt Albert Primary, Kowhai Intermediate, Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland Girls' Grammar.

CONTACT: Lesley or Ruth Hawes, Ray White Kingsland, ph 021 482 799 (Lesley) or 021 482 797 (Ruth).

FEATURES: Grand-scale character home in park-like grounds. Formal and family living/dining, large office, luxurious bath rooms and entertainers' kitchen.

Once the home and practice of a Mt Albert doctor, this grandly proportioned home retains generous dimensions and grounds to this day.

You'll find the character beauty sited well back on a park-like section on the corner of St Lukes and New North Rd. The property's true charms are partially shielded to passersby by its historic rock wall and the gracious mature trees edging its grounds, some believed to be more than 100 years old.

The original single-storey home was built around 1900. Well-loved late GP, Dr Graham Lindsay, secured it in 1930 by swapping it for a nearby home. His daughter Margaret Coatsworth - aged 6 back then - explains her father used two rooms as his waiting room and surgery. Her mother's cousin was the builder, who continued the original style when adding an upper storey around 1940.

Margaret fondly recalls the home's big lawn comprising springy buffalo grass when she was young. Her father (who later progressed into specialist maternity and surgery) retained the property until he passed away in 1977.

The extension achieved a roomy, five-bedroom home of almost 340sq m, expansive enough to nurture its present family, which includes four older children.

But Nicole Schaefer says undertaking a major renovation after they bought the place in 2004 meant space was temporarily limited.

"I ended up cooking in an oven set up in the linen cupboard for a while. The kids even put up a picture of Fiji in there for me to look at."

Designer Rodger McElroy unified smaller downstairs rooms to create bigger spaces and melded tradition with contemporary flair.

Stone pillars introduce the driveway to the house and neighbouring double garage, with its additional parking and turning space.

An extra 100sq m of volcanic soil was brought in before the front lawn was laser-levelled. Its sports-field dimensions are kept private by towering perimeter trees, including a pohutukawa, an oak and a glorious copper beech. A landscaper helped refresh the gardens, which are now irrigated with automated pop-up sprinklers.

The covered front veranda again harbours a single front door, following the removal of the former medical practice's additional entrance. Says Nicole: "I can remember walking in that front door for the first time and being bowled over by the sheer space and height of the stud".

There are native timber floors on both levels and serviced sash windows abound, predominantly renewed with 6mm safety glass.

The entranceway introduces a fine wooden staircase with geometric balustrades. There's an art-deco flavour to the sculptural open fireplace in the front living room, behind which is a spacious office.

The roomy formal dining room suits lively entertaining with its green walls and outlook on to a fig tree, part of a line-up of fruit trees.

Visitors often comment that in Ponsonby, the neighbouring laundry's size would see it counted as a sixth bedroom.

Central heating bolsters the gas fireplace in the big open-plan lounge-dining room, with wide stone hearth and open shelving flanking the chimney breast. This space flows out on to a 40sq m concrete patio.

A team of eight helped move the custom-made concrete kitchen bench into place. A pale green splashback and servery-style windows are some of the many highlights in the contemporary kitchen.

Sophisticated bathrooms with open showers serve each level. The lower one glints with copper-brown metallic tiles, while the upper version introduces avocado-green mosaics and a voluminous bath.

A long hallway upstairs feeds five bedrooms, all with leafy outlooks, including the master with walk-in wardrobe.

The house boasts so much storage space that Nicole admits to having barely used some of it. But after seven years at the property, the family is ready to move on, leaving others to start filling the oversized linen cupboard, under-stair storage and many additional cupboards.