SCHOOL ZONES:
Three Kings School, Mt Roskill Intermediate, Onehunga High School.
CONTACT:
Stewart Morgan, 021 933 305, and Adam Gurr, 021 231 7026, Bayleys.
AUCTION:
September 2.
In the twilight this whole room just lights up and becomes golden. It just glows.
Soaring among mature trees and enormous sculptural volcanic rocks, this mid-1980s home has the signature of award-winning Auckland architect Harry Turbott stamped all over it.
Its three-storey form is a work of art in heritage brick and cedar timber, installed in the embrace of the sweeping, heritage-protected boughs of trees along the rear boundary.
Together, these dramatic site features and the materials used both outside and within this home tie it to its environment, as Harry Turbott has always done with his residential designs.
His client here just happened to be a collector of chimney pots and the resulting intriguing home tells some of that story from the largest of its structural elements to the smallest details.
The curved brick stairway into the lounge and echoing curves in the feature wall that accommodates the lounge and dining room fireplaces are one such example.
Each contour was crafted from bricks hand-tapered by the bricklayer so that the mortar between each brick remained of consistent width.
It's with immense pride that Stephen Bonnett points out both this workmanship and the brickmakers' identifying stamp, even though he wasn't party to any aspect of the creation of this house that he and wife Jenny have lived in and cherished for the past 15 years.
However, even though they are the third owners in its 30-year history none of its charm, functionality or the provenance of its design motifs has been lost on them.
The Bonnetts have always been drawn to homes with character and high ceilings and their first view of this property beyond the pitched roof barbican in the driveway was enough to confirm this as their ultimate character house.
Inside, macrocarpa timber sets the scene, beyond the entrance and into the kitchen with its bay window perimeter bench and bulkhead lighting.
The new soft grey granite bench and stainless steel appliances are virtually the only alterations they've made here, feeling the need to do little else -- designed to support family living, the house has been perfectly suited to raising their sons. Now the two of them breakfast at the kitchen's built-in dining nook, which doubles as a bar.
"In the twilight this whole room just lights up and becomes golden. It just glows," says Jenny.
Image 1 of 18: This Harry Turbott house has luxurious comforts, like a hot tub and wine cellar, underlined by master craftsmanship and plenty of character
Timber features in the pitched ceiling of the lounge and the flat ceiling of the adjoining dining area. It's in the upper cladding of the circular stairwell, turret and its lower brick-lined wine cellar, impressing a visiting builder who acknowledged the skill in achieving such a perfect result.
In the family bathroom handmade red, chocolate brown and grey Morris & James tiles are the feature; in the master en suite upstairs the tiles are emerald green and aqua.
Off a separate lower staircase an additional bedroom with a built-in single bunk and built-in sofa/double bed configuration beneath opens out to the lowest of the multi-level decks near where a spa room, cabana and hot tub awaits restoration.
There are a few remaining antique chimney pots here; on chimneys for the main fireplace, the outdoor fireplace and the former built-in brick barbecue that Stephen had planned to convert into a pizza oven.
For both Jenny and Stephen, the decision to leave the home in which their sons grew up has been a difficult one to feel comfortable with. "We've talked about moving in the past two years but we couldn't bring ourselves to do it," he says.
