Starlets' sanctuary in Epsom

6 Shipherds Ave, Epsom. Photo / Supplied

6 SHIPHERDS AVE EPSOM

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SIZE: Land 1009sq m, house 281sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Late $2 millions to early $3 millions. Tender closes November 24 at 4pm.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2pm-2.30pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz/443451

SCHOOL ZONES: St Thomas' Primary, Selwyn College.

CONTACT: David Nightingale, Harcourts, ph 027 227 2949 or 09 575 2535.

FEATURES: Solid, spacious 1970s house in private grounds and gardens in easy reach of arterial routes, Remuera, CBD fringe and eastern bays. Fabulous indoor/outdoor flow to swimming pool and covered outdoor entertaining area, separate covered outdoor courtyard for dining, loads of firewood in store for three woodfires. Off-street parking for two more cars.

I guess it should come as no surprise that people who craft stories and images in the world of film for a living fell in love with a house with a romantic story of its own - and movie star looks that might have come straight out of Hollywood. The pre-bratty Hollywood, that is, when moguls took phone calls in their mansions while starlets lounged in silken pyjamas, sultry, with cigarette holders in their hands. Linda Cowley, who with her film-maker husband Graeme, has loved their 1928 Spanish Mission-style home since they bought it 15 years ago, is drawn as much by the history of the house as its modern incarnation.

"It was built for the spinster daughter of the Shipherds, the original family here, who had spent a lot of time in Europe. She wanted the large living room for entertaining; the parties would have been amazing," says Linda. Graeme insists that their late black lab, Tiki, actually found the house for them when he was out walking him from their nearby Mountain Rd home. Like many families, the Cowleys were tossing up whether to embark on a major renovation of their old house. One look at this place - only just refurbished by interior designer and builder Paula and Ross McIntosh, with architect Andrew Patterson - and they were smitten. The planets aligned when real estate agent Leila MacDonald knocked on their door with an offer on their old house, and the Cowleys, then with only one high school-aged son at home, could move in.

It is testament to the McIntoshs' design and building skills that in their whole time here, the Cowleys have made no changes to the house nor the landscaping. Linda has enjoyed how the quality materials - textured plastered walls, bleached totara floors in the main reception rooms, sandstone, granite and marble in kitchen and bathrooms - have merely acquired a pleasing patina over time. The island in the kitchen has softened like a well-loved piece of furniture, the painted cupboards look like old Spain (or Hollywood's version thereof), the hand-roughened steel balustrades and light fittings have smoothed with use. Linda and Graeme only updated the fireplace with gas and have carefully clipped the hedges. Ivy growing on the summer house at the end of the pool and moss on the vintage clay roof tiles on the family room wing could have been arranged by an art director. The pool, a deep green hue, is designed as much for its good looks in the non-swimming months, as it is for recreation.

But the house is more than just good looks. The Cowleys have loved how it has worked for their changing family. Kids have grown up, come home again, left, brought grandchildren, and the house takes them all. Parties see people spread through the formal living room, dining room and out on to the terraces. But in quiet moments the couple relish this as a house for two. The flow from the master suite on the first floor where windows fling open to capture views across to One Tree Hill, or closer in, eye-level views of a giant puriri tree (dubbed by Graeme as the cafe for Eden/Epsom tui) down through the living rooms to the backyard is always pleasing. "None of this house feels unused, you can wander through and appreciate it all," he says. "In winter we're around the living room fireplace. In summer, with all the doors open, the outside is part of the house. Our friend [architect] Ian Athfield says that good design is for the community of people who live in it, and this house does exactly that, it moulds itself to fit."

The poolside wing of the house, two steps down from the kitchen, houses a library/media room and a well-equipped office - both opening to the pool. On the other side of the kitchen is the bedroom wing, with a marble bathroom, utility room and a wine cellar tucked under the stairs. The McIntoshs' attention to detail includes utility yards hidden behind the formal gardens. But the Cowleys have had another love affair in the wings - their Auntsfield vineyard in Marlborough that they began planting in 2000 on the site of the original Herd family vineyard established in 1973. Their sons Luc and Ben and families now run the vineyard, and Linda and Graeme have rebuilt the original cellar and restored a woolshed into a home. They want to live in Marlborough full-time building more family stories on their 100ha of pinot noir, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.