SCHOOL ZONES:
Ponsonby Primary and Intermediate, Western Springs College.
CONTACT:
Karen Spires, 027 273 8220.
AUCTION:
2pm, Dec 3 (unless sold prior), 305 Ponsonby Rd.
*Plus 1 OSP
From the front gate, you can see how the people behind the transformation of this Ponsonby transitional villa have not followed a generic renovation route.
Where there was once a picket fence, there is now a sophisticated dark timber fence designed for privacy, with key-pad entry for security.
The street number, 36, isn't indicated with off-the-shelf numbers from a hardware store. Rather, they've been profile-cut from a piece of rusting Corten steel.
Earlier this year Elliot Groves and his business partners Kay Bell and Robert Angus bought this character home, which backs on to Tole Street Reserve. The trio are all originally from Taranaki. Elliot, who now lives in Auckland, has been in the property game for 20 years and has a background in industrial engineering.
"It's double-lined, so it looks nice from both sides. It cost more, but it's worth spending the money."
The house was in good condition when the trio bought it. It had been re-roofed, was insulated and has gas heating throughout. But it's now a smart, contemporary home inside.
Many character features have been kept, but the house has been freshened throughout, with new interior design, a new kitchen and main bathroom. The master suite now boasts a walk-in wardrobe and en suite.
The house has two living areas - a formal lounge at the front and a family living room that flows on from the kitchen and opens through french doors on to the deck.
When Herald Homes visited, Elliot pulled aside artwork to reveal data cabling ports discreetly built into the living rooms' walls.
Kay found beautiful wallpaper for a feature wall in the bay-window master bedroom and its colour palette influenced the rest of the house, including the new aqua-hued front door.
But the colours are accents only and don't overwhelm the overall aesthetic, which is predominantly black and antique white.
"We've gone quite grunty out the front with the black and the rust, so the rest of what we've done is quite restrained," Elliot says.
He and Kay have also chosen fittings and fixtures with a difference. The new main bathroom has a black sink and copper-coloured splashback tiles. There's a decadent double shower and generous standalone bath.
The laundry, which sports the same chunky composite stone benchtop as the kitchen, was all white, but Elliot and Kay decided to liven it up with a wallpaper.
There is also a delicate Parisian motif wallpaper in the fourth bedroom, which is alongside a guest powder room.
The renovation saw an existing deck make way for a large new deck and boardwalk around the house. There's new landscaping, which has retained an old plum tree and a cabbage tree.
A new Corten steel gate makes a feature of the rear of the garden. Open it and there's direct access on to the flat lawn at Tole Street Reserve and spruced-up children's playground.
He was just as happy to show us what had been done with the existing garage, which has a new concrete floor and black-painted trusses and ceiling.
"It's a bit like an art gallery in here now," Elliot says.
