SCHOOL ZONES:
Three Kings School, Mt Roskill Intermediate, Onehunga High School.
CONTACT:
Kirstin Elia, Harcourts, 027 600 2757.
AUCTION:
Nov 16 (unless sold prior).
Doing your homework on a property before renovating it is always smart. That homework turned into some serious swot for quantity surveyor Bruce Jamieson.
When Bruce and his wife Vicky looked through this 1942 bungalow in Epsom six years ago, they could see the potential for streamlining its bitsy, cluttered layout.
But rather than relying on their imaginations for what could be done, Bruce created a 3D computer model of the home's existing floorplan, then investigated various options of how to improve its flow and create better living spaces.
At 192sq m, the four-bedroom home was already a decent size. But its disjointed layout included a cramped hallway with a kitchen plonked in the middle, too many small rooms and some lowered ceilings.
The Scottish-born couple, who moved to New Zealand from Edinburgh 13 years ago, had been living in a smaller Epsom house on a half site that was too close to traffic noise and becoming too small for their daughters Isla, 9, and Amy, 7.
They spent a few busy months cramming visits to open homes into their weekends before finding this single-level, weatherboard home on a 971sq m section in Bingley Ave.
"We sold our house at auction and bought this one at auction about an hour later," says Vicky.
Their street, a pretty cul-de-sac lined with flowering cherry trees, is near the southern end of St Andrews Rd in one of the leafiest parts of Epsom.
Zoned for Three Kings School, Mt Roskill Intermediate and Onehunga High School, it is also close to Cornwall Park and Three Kings Reserve.
Image 1 of 7: This successful renovation is all thanks to clever planning. Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
"We are very central here, close to the airport and have easy access to good bus routes. But it is also incredibly quiet. There is no traffic noise."
The Jamiesons lived in the house for almost a year before deciding how best to redesign it for family living.
To keep costs down, they hired a draftsman to draw up their redesign and Bruce did much of the renovation himself, working nights and weekends over three years.
"We did it in pockets, moving from one part of the house to another as we'd finish a room. But we always had a fully functioning kitchen," says Bruce, who has renovated several homes.
The 237sq m renovated house includes a 45sq m extension on its northern side to accommodate a new open-plan kitchen, dining room and main living room, which flows out to the west-facing back garden and existing swimming pool.
The house has been replumbed, rewired, relined, recarpeted, insulated and partially reroofed with brick tiles that match the original ones. Stud heights are now 2.7m in all rooms, which now also have matching architraves, cornicing and new doors.
Bruce has restored original matai floorboards in the kitchen and sourced matching bricks to finish garden pathways and build a new retaining wall.
The front entrance of the house now leads into a long central hallway with a second living room at the end, which overlooks the pool.
To the left off the hall are three double bedrooms, the main bathroom and a linen cupboard with access to stairs that lead down to a tandem double garage with good storage.
