KEY POINTS:
36 Wanganui Avenue, Herne Bay.
Size: Land 416sqm, house 235sqm approx.
Price indication: CV $1.06 million. Auction April 26.
Inspect: Today 5.30-6.15pm, Sat/Sun 1-1.45pm, or by appointment.
On the web: www.uprealty.co.nz#UPH150297.
School zones: Bayfield Primary, Freemans Bay Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls Grammar, Western Springs College.
Contact: Cathy Roselli, Unlimited Potential, ph 361 6658 bus,021 750 454.
Features: Elegantly renovated early-1900s villa on a sunny, elevated site. Spacious open-plan kitchen-living-dining in seamless rear extension opening onto a child-friendly fully-fenced courtyard and level rear lawn and garden.
Thorough renovation of their Herne Bay villa left Kirsty and Damon Thomas no time to catch their breath before the birth of their first child.
One evening a fortnight before Kirsty's due date she was putting drawers into a new kitchen island, delighted the cabinetry's completion marked the end of the major restoration.
"Then my waters broke and our daughter Scarlet was born the next day. I'd been thinking it was going to be fairly close finishing the villa before having the baby, but I didn't think it would be that close," she laughs.
The couple's elegantly renovated 1910 villa radiates street appeal from an elevated position which allows space for a front garage without interfering with the lines of the home.
Kirsty says the open plan living/kitchen/dining in the spacious rear extension proved a blissful spot to soak up the sun with Scarlet, now 3, while entertaining other new mums. Wide bifold doors plus French doors create flow to the sunny rear courtyard, level lawn and garden.
The couple bought the villa six years ago, knowing they were about to live in Christchurch for a year, but wanting to keep a foothold in the Auckland housing market. Damon is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon and his training necessitated a transfer south in 2001.
Previous owners had already done the rear extension but Kirsty and Damon felt the home's charm warranted many more improvements. While in Christchurch they organised plans and tradesmen to work on the villa once Damon's transfer ended.
Their weatherboard home was re-piled, re-wired, re-plumbed and insulated. Doors and windows were moved and added. The hallway was opened up and additions included an en suite, laundry, linen cupboard, wardrobes and overhead wardrobe storage. Floorboards were replaced and polished, and the kitchen was upgraded.
The couple was delighted with the end result, living there until they were transferred to Christchurch again in 2005, where their second daughter Eva, now 1, was born.
A Kiwi family returning from New York leased it until recently, when Kirsty and Damon decided to sell seeing they'd settled in Kirsty's home town of Melbourne.
Damon's parents, Terry and Judy Thomas, drove up from Tauranga to make the villa spic and span for open homes and to show Heraldhomes through. Features such as the polished floors right through the home and the hallway arch deliver old world charm, as does a front verandah carefully reconstructed to suit the villa's vintage.
The stylishly neutral decor throughout gives the three bedrooms a serene ambience. The master's en suite has a pebble-floored shower and heated mirrors.
Doors can close off the glorious rear living space from the hall if desired. A long dining space and welcoming living area with fire and window seat pivot around the large kitchen.
White cabinetry conceals a pull-out pantry and contrasts with black granite atop an island incorporating bar stool seating. The bar stools face fierce competition from the rear courtyard's built-in seating, surrounded by gardens and lawn.
