Classic Kiwi brick homes from the 1950s have a habit of getting under the skin of visionary renovators, and Tim Jones and Anna Palairet are no exception.
Charmed by the potential of this vacant, deceased estate, they took their friend and architect Thao Nguyen through the house before they bought it in mid-2010.
And as they worked their way through its old-fashioned front living rooms and back bedrooms, they left no brick, no rimu stud and no snippet of potential untouched.
The result is a home with a new take on life behind its new cedar-clad wing. The living rooms are now at the rear, the bedrooms at the front — and the best original brick and native timber historical elements have been repurposed and given new textural context.
"This is history and that is important to us. The house had not been played around with and that was what attracted us to it," says Tim, a former corporate executive..
He's talking about the likes of the bagged brick exterior cladding, created from the original bricks and re-laid around new joinery. Also the pristine golden rimu floors, which lay beneath carpet in the living area and hallway for about 60 years.
Downstairs there is another rimu story Tim is especially proud of. During demolition of the back bedrooms, he salvaged wall studs and had them re-milled into floorboards and stair treads and risers.
47 Kitenui Ave, Mt Albert. Photo / Supplied
For Tim and Anna these are the surprises beyond their first vision for a home with presence and function for them and their children, Amelia 10, and Harry 7.
Anna came to the first meeting with their architect with a mood book of ideas and photos, including a website link to a white brick/cedar contemporary home by British interior designer Kathryn Tyler that had appeared on the UK television series Grand Designs.
"We didn't move too much from Thao's original sketch," says Anna. "We were on the same wavelength. She brought in a lot of the elements we wanted. That gave us encouragement and reassurance."
47 Kitenui Ave, Mt Albert. Photo / Supplied
They moved into the house after Tim's whirlwind two-week redecoration, stripping carpet and wallpaper for an interim refresh.
The four years they spent changing an original back-to-front footprint was invaluable.
Anna landscaped the rear grounds which open off the deck from the living rooms.
The old front dining room is now their master bedroom with juliet balcony and en suite.
47 Kitenui Ave, Mt Albert. Photo / Supplied
The children's bedrooms run alongside the house where the front door once opened into the lounge. Across the hallway, the bathroom and the adjacent study/4th bedroom occupy what was the kitchen.
Front and back, in the living area and master bedroom and en suite, pitched ceilings add fullness and natural light to the surrounding green vistas.
For Tim and Anna, the suburb they have lived in since 2003 is where they may well find their next renovation project.
