SCHOOL ZONES:
Cornwall Park District School, Remuera Primary, Remuera Intermediate, Auckland Grammar, Epsom Girls’ Grammar.
CONTACT:
John Wills and Nic Blackie, Custom Residential, 021 333 053 (John), 021 505 964 (Nic).
Dave Williams can't help wondering what his late step-grandparents would think if they could see how he's transformed what was once their family property.
"I like to think that Poppa would be impressed," says registered master builder Dave, as he looks around the luxury home he's constructed on the site.
"I think he would like it."
There are two homes on the site (although just one's for sale) and they're a far cry from the modest 1920s bungalow that originally stood there.
That house was commissioned by a master mariner called Captain Fox and cost £1100 to build. It was passed on to his daughter, Joan, and her husband, Gordon McDonald -- Dave's step-grandparents -- and he has happy memories of visiting them there. When the opportunity recently arose to buy the property from his family, he jumped at the chance.
With more than 25 years' experience in the building industry, Dave had always wanted to develop properties and the Epsom site presented the ideal opportunity.
The old house was shifted off the property and relocated to the Waikato, and Dave went to award-winning architect Malcolm Walker with a fairly simple brief.
"I wanted to maximise the site and I also wanted homes that were very high quality and looked good, but were practical to live in."
Thanks to Malcolm, the two-storey solid masonry home for sale is contemporary and stylish, but designed to fit in with older homes in the street. Features such as the bay window at the front help to accomplish this.
Image 1 of 9: Attention to detail is clear in larger-than-usual windows and taller-than-normal doors
Larger-than-usual windows throughout the house allow the light to flood in, and it's very warm thanks to the concrete construction.
Dave is a details-oriented person, says his wife Susan, and this shows in the careful attention paid to every aspect of the house, such as the specially made skirting boards and architraves and taller-than-normal doors.
He was keen to use ideas he'd picked up throughout his building career.
Features he liked in other homes and incorporated into the house include a ring mains circulating hot water system, LED lighting, USB ports for charging devices and black light switches.
"I had taken a lot of things on board through working on other houses and I was really keen to use them in this one," he says.
Eye-catching features include the semi-circular staircase and a sparkling granite bench top in the kitchen.
The open plan living/dining/kitchen opens via a wall of sliding doors to a north-facing patio and lawn and is very warm, even when the remote-controlled gas fire is switched off.
The ground floor also contains a study that could be used as an extra bedroom, a powder room, laundry and double internal-access garage.
Upstairs are two more bedrooms, a large family bathroom with a spacious walk-in shower and bath, and the master suite, which has a west-facing deck.
The home, which is the front of the two Dave has built on the section, is surprisingly quiet despite the fact that it's near a motorway and rail lines (where the passenger trains are electric).
It's close to Newmarket and also an easy drive to Remuera village.
Dave says he's really pleased with the way the house has turned out and his step-father Clive McDonald, who grew up on the site, approves.
