Ship shape in Takapuna

22 Manurere Avenue, Takapuna. Photo / Teg Baghurst

22 MANURERE AVE TAKAPUNA

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SIZE: Land 994sq m, house 230sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $2.175 million. Tender closes March 22, 4pm.

INSPECT: Sunday 2-3pm.

ON THE WEB: barfoot.co.nz/449560

SCHOOL ZONES: Takapuna Primary School, Takapuna Normal Intermediate School, Takapuna Grammar School, Westlake Girls High School.

CONTACT: Evan Jones, Barfoot & Thompson Takapuna, ph 0272 837 460 or 489 5084.

FEATURES: Ron Sang-designed 1970s home on a private waterfront section in Takapuna with uninterrupted views of Lake Pupuke and direct access to the water. The house, with four bedrooms and two large living areas split over two levels, is largely in original condition.

Arthur and Claire Wall were doubly prescient when they built their Takapuna waterfront home. It was 1973 and the couple had a north-facing section to play with on the newly created Manurere Ave right beside Lake Pupuke. They hired an up-and-coming architect 10 years out of university for the job. His name was Ron Sang.

Nearly 40 years later, the avenue has become one of the most sought-after streets on the North Shore, within strolling distance of Takapuna's shops, restaurants, public swimming pool, beach and The PumpHouse and Bruce Mason theatres.

Ron Sang, meanwhile, has become an architect of national renown. (A few years after designing the Walls' home, he created photographer Brian Brake's landmark Titirangi house.)

Aside from a quirky 1970s kitchen - resplendent in orange tiles - the style of the Wall home has weathered well. It is largely unchanged from the original, though it was recently repainted and the green shagpile has been replaced. Even the light fittings - which would have been turfed in a second, had the Walls sold the house in the 1990s - have become retro cool.

Though the kitchen and bathrooms need updating, the layout answers many of the demands of 21st-century family homes - a private master suite upstairs (with a large dressing room, en suite bathroom and private balcony overlooking the lake), an open-plan main living area upstairs, and a large second living area downstairs. With two bedrooms and a bathroom also downstairs, you'd barely need to see the teenagers.

The cedar-clad house was evidently designed to soak up its impressive views and north-facing position, and ensure privacy. It was built far back from the road and just metres from the water - so close that from some angles, a bow-shaped deck off the upstairs living area almost looks like it's floating in the lake.

Near floor-to-ceiling windows in the lounge and dining room optimise the wide water views. Three of the four bedrooms also have lake views, and the downstairs living area opens out on to a grassed backyard that drops down to the lake edge. Thick, curved interior masonry walls add softness and flow; clerestory windows pour light into the entranceway and hall.

"They were building beside a lake," says the Walls' son, Brian. "They obviously designed it so you live with the lake. And it's so private you feel like you have the lake to yourself."

Brian had left home by the time the house was built, though his much younger sister, the actress Alison Wall, lived there with her parents for many years. He remembers his father, an accountant who died in the early 1980s, having regular meetings with Sang in the previous family home in Mt Eden in the six months leading up to the build.

"My Dad was a true accountant and I can remember the project being a long and challenging one for Ron Sang while they meticulously planned all aspects. Mum and Dad spent a long time with him making sure it was the way they wanted it. The result was a lovely home with some great features."

Claire lived in the house until just a few years ago, and died last year aged in her 90s. Brian says she loved the ever-changing views.

"There was always something happening on the lake. It's a very relaxing place to live. I'd like to keep it but then I'm a bit sentimental about things like that."