Fred Wilson stands on this Mission Bay promontory with the Waitemata Harbour curving around him like an amphitheatre and says, "This is the best spot in town.
"There's something incredibly empowering about this place and about not living with houses all around you. It's basically the only private point on this side of the harbour, with just three houses on it.
"You stand here and you feel like a king; like a captain on the bridge of a 'ship' with the rest of the world behind you."
He's owned the northernmost house on Pipimea Point and its 1675sq m grounds for 15 years but the land has been in his family for more than 60 years. His late father, William Scott Wilson, moved his family here when Fred was just a lad.
Fred's father was a descendent of William Chisholm Wilson, who founded Wilson & Horton, publisher of the NZ Herald before subsequent ownership changes.
William and wife Kitty originally based themselves and their three children in a big house set further back, since removed. Fred says his childhood scampering down to the beach with his two sisters was wonderful. "We'd play down there keeping an eye out for mum to pull the blind down, which was the signal to come home for lunch.
"My father decided the old house was too much for them in retirement and had this place built in the 60s. Mum and dad travelled extensively and were used to the best in life.
"They had this built with a Japanese flavour. It's also been likened to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright."
The late 60s cedar house featuring lots of interior rimu and teak and would have been an early Kiwi adopter of trends such as indoor-outdoor flow, open-plan areas and greater use of local timber.
Image 1 of 8: Miles of ocean views from this Frank Lloyd Wright-era home will make you feel like a captain with the world at your feet
It was built where their old home's tennis court had been, with part of the tennis court's stone retaining wall sealed and incorporated into one of teenage Fred's bedroom walls. Trustees tenanted the property once Fred's mother was in a home until she passed away. When the property was put on the market Fred was determined to secure it.
"It's a wonderful bolthole where nobody comes unless they're invited. You can be absolutely private."
The home is at the tip of a shared driveway. Neighbouring houses are further south, giving this No26 a sense of solitude with which to enjoy the uninterrupted view. A strip of land curving round the front of these grounds is a neighbour's walkway down to the beach.
"The view is drop-dead gorgeous. It's always changing and it's always interesting out there. No one can come in or out of the harbour without me knowing."
The double carport angling over the entranceway is bolstered by lower level double garaging-workshop space.
"The house is very well designed and well built so it works amazingly well."
At the core of the layout a lounge opens to the front deck, swimming pool and landscaped grounds featuring natives, subtropicals and large rocks. A wall of Japanese-style sliding screens can shield the lounge from the front door.
Fred and partner Leona Reid sourced Moroccan fossil rock for kitchen benches in the open-plan dining-kitchen with scullery during their extensive overseas travels.
The upstairs master bedroom, with its extraordinary view, has a walk-in wardrobe and renovated en-suite bathroom and is accompanied by a shower room, another bedroom, an office and a powder room. Downstairs was rented in Kitty's later years and has two bedrooms, a lounge, bathroom and galley kitchen area.
