Remuera - Welcome addition

A minor revamp followed by a major renovation have made this home ideal for family entertaining.

149A Orakei Rd, Remuera.

For the Wiley family, the green, green grass of home has been a big part of the appeal of their leafy property that is down a right-of-way off one of Remuera's most popular streets.

Behind their house, the verdant swathe of lawn that swirls around two towering pin oak and liquidambar trees on neighbouring properties is, in fact, their back boundary.

There is no back fence in the great Kiwi tradition of marking out one's plot. There's also no front gate to the home that has been enlarged and renovated in the spirit of practical family living and big-hearted conviviality. ``We have no barriers here,'' Dennis declares. ``Our friends and all the kids' teenage mates just drive down here and pop in to see us. That's what this place is all about.''

Some 10 years ago when they moved into their then single-level 1950s brick and weatherboard home, the picture was even greener. Those rear properties were yet to be built on and they basked in unobstructed views of the city and harbour.

Architect Darren Jessup's award-winning update of their bathroom and the conversion of a single garage into a bedroom with an en suite took the pressure off the spaces within the three-bedroom home until Belinda and Dennis were ready to tackle the major renovation a few years later.

Keeping the footprint of the original house largely intact, architect Paul Leuschke designed rear additions which added a family room and study off the main entrance along with two bedrooms on the same level. Above the family room, the main bedroom and en suite (accessed through the dressing room) rise as a central tower with its gull-wing roof designed to maximise the views they have reclaimed across the city to North Head.

The original bedrooms of the house that lacked any connection with the sun and shelter to the west are now one open plan living area that opens to the loggia-covered courtyard with its cafe-style drop screens, outdoor heater and outdoor fireplace. Lawn space was given over to a generous swimming pool with its regulation fencing hidden in the shrubbery. Through a gate, you step down to a lawn and garden with a huge frangipani tree.

Indoors, the original matai floorboards are now stained dark brown. Dark timber, neutral walls and polished concrete bathroom and kitchen work surfaces give this house a cohesive, contemporary style.

Yet there is still much that hints at the lines of the original dwelling from the choice of white exterior and the pitched corrugated iron roof to the double sinks in the stainless steel sink bench that match the originals. The louvred cabinetry was inspired by a French-style kitchen Belinda had seen in a magazine; the deep concrete island bench a favourite for its rugged charm.

``I don't like houses where everything looks too perfect. I like things to be a bit more honest,'' says Belinda. ``Everyone who comes in here just loves this place, and it has been a great party house.''

Opportunities now beckon for the Wiley children and for Belinda, a yoga teacher, and Dennis, a restaurateur, of the new surf-themed gastro bar Squid Row and Sausalito Cafe fame.

Dennis is keen to head back into the surf and Belinda has dreams of a rural retreat where she can teach yoga. They'd like a smaller city pad and a place in the country. Belinda says, ``We're looking for a bit more green.''

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 3

GARAGES: 2

SIZE: Land 1133sq m, house 305sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected above the 2005 CV $1.89 million. Auction November 1.

INSPECT: Sun/Weds 2-2.45pm.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz # 348336.

SCHOOL ZONES: Remuera Primary and Intermediate, Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar.

CONTACT: Andrew McAlpine, Barfoot & Thompson Remuera, ph 021 968 809, 524 0149 bus.

FEATURES: Renovated home with internal-access double garaging plus off-street parking. Separate laundry, study, family room.