Devonport people can be a proudly tribal lot. Folk such as David and Marie Oxnam moved into the suburb when they returned from their OE in 1989 and have never left.
In his young flatting days, David had once spent a weekend there, visiting from Wellington, and the watersidesuburb had stayed on his mind.
"I thought, I'm going to live here one day, it's a little private paradise," he says. "We still think it's like a little sanctuary in Auckland when you work in the rat race and come home to this."
Marie laughingly calls it "the bubble", but as you can go for a swim nearly all year around and have a sense of village life, the couple liken to David's home town of Nelson - it's a bubble they're happy to be part of.
The master suite, study and second living room had been pushed up into the attic, a new kitchen and living room out the back and bathrooms updated.
The Oxnams appreciated settling into the house without having to do much, though they did make gradual improvements, and recently updated paint and carpets.
Keeping the historical integrity of the house is important to them.
They have photos of the house just after it was built - 1903 - and the veranda lace and balustrades, details around the bay window and the front door are authentic.
When they were ready to update a garage, even though it was in the back corner of the property, Marie and David engaged heritage architect Jeremy Salmond to design an appropriate finish to the building.
With its Arts and Crafts battening, it is more true to the style of a utility building than simply replicating the ornate lace and corbels of the fancy house frontage.
For that, and in refurbishing the front door, builder Peter Wolfkamp (the tough building boss on The Block) was exacting about reproducing the look and quality of the first Edwardian builders.
At some point, the delightful panelled glass front door had been boarded over, but the architraves were still intact, so the Oxnams trawled the neighbourhood for good examples of doors and tracked down a leadlight glass artist to reproduce a panelled front door and its surrounding windows.
As well as that fireplace, the front bay window room has a walk-in closet and en suite bathroom, and the bedroom on the other side of the wide hallway has french doors to the pretty veranda overlooking the herringbone brick path and tropical front yard.
Another bedroom and family bathroom, plus laundry in a closet complete the old half of the house.
The hallway was wide enough for a staircase to the cunningly arranged upper floor. The roof needed only a little popping up to accommodate a generous timber-lined media room, complete with a little veranda for tree-top views around the suburb across to the flanks of Rangitoto.
Beside it is David's open-plan office and the back room is an airy master bedroom with en suite.
The downstairs rear of the house was completely rearranged for an L-shaped living room (this time with a modern wood burner), the sunny dining room and a good-sized kitchen. With its Shaker-style wood panelled cabinets and stainless steel appliances, the kitchen has stood the test of time.
The whole space opens to the back deck and a sweep of lawn through period-style french doors, with a garden that has exactly the sense of tropical paradise that first attracted Marie and David to the suburb all those years ago.
"This is the most walkable suburb, it's easy to keep fit," says Marie. "You can walk from Cheltenham beach, up North Head, around Torpedo Bay; it's a quick walk to the ferry.
And creativity is very much part of Devonport - it seems like everyone has something they're doing; the movie theatre is a regular for us."
After 20 years they're looking forward to finding the same sort of creative village atmosphere when they move back to Nelson, leaving this historic villa for the next family to make their own.
