SCHOOL ZONES:
Blockhouse Bay Primary and Intermediate, Green Bay High School.
CONTACT:
Harcourts, Lisa Stone, 021 504 674; Steve Stone 021 966 499.
FEATURES:
*plus off-street for 4 cars
Riyana Frobose has a good imagination. "She needed it when we first saw this house four years ago," says husband Hans.
The sprawling Blockhouse Bay property with its sea views had definitely seen better days.
"Hans was very unsure but I knew that there was a 'beautiful old lady' under all the botched renovations and piles of junk," Riyana says.
"It was like digging for treasure. You never knew what you might find. For example, we had no idea that there was a paved courtyard until we'd moved huge amounts of rubbish.
"Then a previous owner came to see us," says South African Riyana, who moved to New Zealand with Hans, a German cabinetmaker, nearly 10 years ago. The former owner of the property showed them a book he owned that mentioned that a well-known international opera star had lived in the house as a young girl.
Although the couple didn't know much about New Zealand opera when they arrived in the country, they do now and they're proud to own a slice of musical history.
These days the house could not be neater or more pristine because, as Hans points out, everything upstairs is basically new.
"We began by fixing up the roof and making it watertight," he says.
"Then as we went along we installed insulation in internal and external walls, under the floors and in the ceiling."
With a smart new kitchen and two new handsome tiled bathrooms, one of which has a modern version of a traditional claw-foot bath, the house soon came back to life.
Along with the kitchen, a huge living area dominates the first level on which there are four bedrooms, one of which aviation training manager Riyana uses as her office.
Eight-year-old son Torick has a deck outside his room and it's partly covered so he can play there, rain or shine.
That's when he's not down by the pool, exploring the "forest", or entertaining friends in the unexpectedly elegant rumpus space. Its intricate oak panelling gives it a fantasy atmosphere.
There's a sauna and changing room next to the pool and a spa pool, too.
Riyana has planted out the garden and a new owner will reap its produce. "I've put in strawberry plants plus plum, kaffir lime, feijoa, lemon and apple trees," she says.
"The apple tree has already borne fruit."
Image 1 of 5: Herald Homes
22 Mitchell Street, Blockhouse Bay.
30 June 2015 NZ Herald photo by Ted Baghurst.
She's a keen cook who likes using fresh ingredients so has planted a raised kitchen garden beside the main courtyard.
The house also contains a basement granny flat or teenage hangout with bathroom and a separate entrance.
"Alternatively, you could rent it out," says Hans.
Hidden away down a winding driveway, the house is private and secluded yet the neighbours are friendly and sociable and they all look out for each other.
Torick is at Blockhouse Bay School, which is within easy walking distance, and the local bus stop is about 200m away.
There's a shopping centre nearby and a community hall where Riyana enjoys belly dancing classes.
"This place just has so much going for it," she says. "And believe it or not I can be at my job at Auckland International Airport in under 30 minutes, thanks to the new motorway extension."
The Frobose family are planning a lifestyle change.
