SCHOOL ZONES:
Three Kings School, Auckland Normal Intermediate, Auckland Grammar, Epsom Girls Grammar and Mt Albert Grammar.
CONTACT:
Bill Myers, Harcourts, 021 890 006.
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Pene Allan-Mckay's little car, which she has nicknamed Sweetie, is the same age as her house.
Sweetie is a 1955 Austin A35 currently being restored, but Pene hopes Sweetie will soon be on the road again, sign-written with details of Pene's work as a marriage celebrant.
"My friends and I are thinking when she's all finished we'll get dressed up in 1950s clothes and take her out for a picnic in Cornwall Park," Pene says with a smile.
Unlike Sweetie, Pene's 1955-built house, which she shares with her husband Pete Mckay, is already made-over and looking its best.
Pete, a former builder, designed the renovation himself. "Pete's a perfectionist," says Pene.
Perfectionism is evident in the careful and sympathetic renovation, which has seen the character of the house retained, but its layout updated and reconfigured to suit the sun and contemporary living.
Pete says the house was architecturally designed originally but they are not sure by whom. "Like many homes of its age it had the typical formal, English influence where everything faced the street, he says.
The couple's plans for the house were hatched even before they bought it seven years ago. They attended an open home, saw the potential and went to De Post in nearby Mt Eden village for a drink.
Image 1 of 7: This spacious mid-century home has been delightfully updated. Photos / Fiona Goodall
Pete sketched some concept plans on a napkin -- and those ideas have been realised in the completed renovation. A sunny new kitchen features a large engineered stone island and sleek two-pot lacquer cabinets.
Alongside is the dining area, with beautiful rimu floors. It flows into a separate sitting room. New doors in this corner open on to a large, new deck with glass balustrades.
Pene and Pete have also put a lot of care and attention into the garden, which is planted with mature palms. There's plenty of room for future owners to put a pool into the level lawn.
Back inside, the ground level includes a new internal-access double garage with proportions perfectly in keeping with the house. It replaces a tandem version. There's a new powder room and an impressively large laundry, with plenty of bench space for folding washing.
The stairwell, which features beautiful glass pendant lighting, leads up to three double bedrooms and a family bathroom, with a luxuriously deep standalone bath. From this level it's apparent just how spectacular the views are. "We never get sick of the views here," Pene says.
She loves their master bedroom, saying it's "absolutely divine". Here, the view stretches from near St Andrew's Rd, around to Mt Eden, Mt
There is a lot of space in this house, but now that son Keenan has left home, the Mckays say they don't need quite so much room.
