Thriller view from the hill in Parnell

16 Waitoa Street, Parnell, Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst

16 WAITOA ST PARNELL

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SIZE: Land 2215sq m (approx), house 215sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $4.19 million. Expressions of interest close Wednesday August 17 at 4pm.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12-12.45pm.

ON THE WEB: uprealty.co.nz/UPR12455

SCHOOL ZONES: Parnell District School, Auckland Grammar School, Epsom Girls' Grammar School.

CONTACT: Greg Gibson, Unlimited Potential Remuera, ph 529 5216 or 021 940 048.

FEATURES: Elegant 1930s character home on a large private waterfront section in Parnell, with views across Hobson Bay. The home features cosy formal and sun-bathed informal living areas, new bathrooms and a charming master suite

Neighbourhood legend has it that an Air Force Iroquois helicopter was responsible for creating Graeme Cameron's view across Hobson Bay, as it scrambled to respond to the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

Graeme's elegant 1930s home sits on a large waterfront section in Waitoa St in Parnell. It's across the bay from the Outdoor Boating Club on Tamaki Dr, where one night in July 1985 its members became suspicious of a man who had abandoned his Zodiac inflatable dinghy nearby. Hours later a bomb blasted through the Rainbow Warrior at nearby Marsden Wharf and their observations took on a sinister significance.

By that time, the Waitoa St property's many trees had grown up to obscure the view, but the story goes that as the Iroquois flew in to investigate it took out a large pohutukawa with a whomp-whomp-whomp.

Graeme and his wife, Victoria, weren't living in the house at the time. It was then owned by Rose Dalton, the mother of yachting legend Grant Dalton, who had grown up there and used to drag his boat down to the bay below to practise sailing. The Daltons were only the third owners of the home, which Graeme bought from them in 2003.

The helicopter's inadvertent pruning effort might have briefly interrupted the serenity of the two-storey weatherboard home, but it means the kitchen and family room on the lower floor and the master bedroom above now have broad views across the bay. Graeme further capitalised on the outlook by installing a freestanding bath in the master en suite bathroom at an angle that allows the bather to soak up the view as well as the water.

It was the peace and charm of the house that first attracted Graeme and Victoria. Graeme says they spend most of their time at home in the relaxed family room, which was originally a sun porch. This catches all-day sun and drinks in an outlook of green and blue through its wall-to-wall-to-wall windows to the north, west and east, and opens to the lawn via French doors.

There's also a dining room and a northwest-facing formal lounge with an original open fireplace, which adds ambience to the gas-heated house.

Graeme is a retired engineer who built a career on construction and property development, but he knows when to leave well enough alone. Though it would technically be possible to build several homes on the 2215sqm site, he says it would be a shame to lose the serenity. He and Victoria have, however, renovated the bathrooms and reconfigured the bedrooms. When they bought the property its four bedrooms were quaint but small. So, with Victoria's two sons still living at home, they converted a single garage on the lower floor into a bedroom.

They also stole one of the single bedrooms upstairs to enlarge the master. With the extra space and French doors opening to a balcony and the harbour view, the master bedroom is a light and airy spot that makes it hard for Graeme and Victoria to resist breakfasting in bed.

Within a few months they'll be breakfasting in a different spot. Graeme has spent the past 11 years creating a masterpiece of a home around the corner in Awatea St and they're looking forward to finally moving in, even if they do have to sacrifice a bit of the privacy and greenery they currently enjoy. "This has been a loved house," he says. "It's a very peaceful home in the middle of town on a large site with old trees. You don't get that very often."