It is a rare day when Herald Homes meets homeowners who were so happy with the style of the house they bought that they didn't have to do a thing to it. Well, apart from painting and landscaping.
But Rob Bree declares that he and wife Denise fell in love with their cedar home on the edge of Meadowbank's Rutherford Reserve within five minutes of walking in.
"We'd been looking at building a house in Clevedon, so we'd just been looking at houses for design ideas. It was nice-looking from the street, it was all completed, and the builder and his partner had a good eye for design and colour," says Rob.
They bought the nearly new house 11 years ago, and are only selling so they can breathe life back into their home-building ambition -- albeit now on a smaller scale.
"We'd always had villas and bungalows, so it's been so nice having nothing to do. There's storage everywhere, heat pumps, it's all modern but it suited our collection of antique and Asian-style furniture," says Rob.
The couple were drawn to the seclusion offered by being right by the park, and a neighbour's bush backyard adding to the sense of greenery.
It has walkway access to other main streets in Meadowbank and Waiatarua Reserve is only five minutes' run away, so they got the outlook they'd hoped for, plus city convenience.
Portofino is the local restaurant, and Meadowbank's shops, mall, and the Lunn Ave precinct are minutes by car. The beaches of Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St Heliers are an easy walk.
Rob works from home, but loves the convenience of the nearby train station for city meetings.
The Brees love their elevated view of the park, so worked with a landscape designer to integrate it in their lower garden.
A retaining wall and puka hedge create separation and privacy, and they added a sunny terrace of sleepers and gravel for a downstairs dining zone (the couple have two barbecues, one up, one down for plenty of outdoor living options).
Image 1 of 6: This split-level, modern build is low-maintenance living at its best. Photos / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
Native planting and stepping stones around the side edges of the house use all the space.
The split-level house uses the sloping site well. The living spaces, a few steps down from the entrance, have soaring ceilings to draw in light and direct the eye to the park views, anchored by dark oak floors and smart carpet.
The builder used tongue-and-groove panels to create impact, and plenty of sliding doors to access the large back deck.
The kitchen was well designed from the start, with chunky granite on the island bench, so the Brees have only replaced the oven with a Westinghouse self-cleaning model and Baumatic gas hob, and updated the dishwasher.
There is a new Rinnai gas fire in the living room, more for good looks, as the heat pumps keep the place toasty.
A generous laundry, complete with outdoor drying deck, opens off the double garage.
Upstairs, the designers used cathedral ceilings to good advantage, tucking in a generous mezzanine level above the living room. Rob currently uses this as his office, but with its generous built-in day bed it is a favourite hideout for visiting grandchildren. Another few steps up is the master suite, with a walk-in closet and updated en suite.
The ground floor level has had several incarnations. Two double bedrooms have sliding glass doors to the covered deck and terraced garden, and a third is tucked behind, serviced by a family bathroom. At various times the rooms have been home offices, a sitting/rumpus room (there's plenty of storage for all these options). When extended family have stayed, the house has managed to sleep 11 people.
The Brees' nest is empty, but they can see the versatility of the house -- and its neighbourhood -- as suiting a young family, or one with semi-independent grown kids, as they head off to their next place.
