SCHOOL ZONES:
Victoria Avenue School, Remuera Intermediate, double Grammar
CONTACT:
Alexander Babukhin, Ray White, ph 021 956 473 or 215 7571
Vanessa Bowden almost cried when she first saw the house her husband Martin had bought in Remuera nine years ago.
"It was horrible," says Vanessa, who hadn't had the chance to view the property before Martin put in the successful bid at auction. "It was dark and damp and mouldy. I thought, 'What has he done?'."
Martin, a builder, told her to focus on the lovely native bush setting and forget about the dwelling, which he planned to knock down and rebuild.
Almost a decade later, as the pair prepare to sell the property, Vanessa expects to feel tearful about it again -- but this time because she's sad to leave.
"It's been such a great family home, I really love it," she says. "It's going to be hard to leave but now all our kids have gone and there's just the two of us at home, it is much too big."
Vanessa and Martin's children Fran, Jacob and Josh were aged from 17 to 10 when the family moved in. Back then, the original house was on one level, with two self-contained flats on a lower level. After the tenants left, Martin set about demolishing the old house and building the new one bit by bit.
"It was a work in progress for a long time," says Vanessa, recalling how the whole family lived for many months in a few rooms in the top part of the house while the bottom was being worked on.
"We turned a bedroom into the kitchen and one of the kids' friends said it was like living in a supermarket because we had open shelving with all our food on it."
One summer they had no roof for nine weeks -- fortunately it didn't rain during that time -- and cleaned the house using a leaf blower.
All the inconvenience was worth it in the end. The house was finally completed three years ago and is a striking and stylish contemporary home with many unique features dreamed up by Martin, such as the living room's textured concrete wall.
Image 1 of 12: Builder-owner has transformed house from dark, damp and mouldy to a stylish family home on three levels. Photos / Ted Baghurst
Cleverly designed to make the most of the sloping site, the home is spread over three levels. Entry is via the middle level, with the front door opening to a glass ceilinged atrium above a suspended staircase that goes down to the lower level. The middle level is home to four bedrooms -- or three and a sitting room -- and the family bathroom.
All the bedrooms are big, but the master one is particularly spacious. The en suite bathroom -- with its elegant egg bathtub, sliced granite shower and wall of windows -- looks as if it came straight out of a luxury boutique hotel.
A staircase tucked away next to the single internal access garage (there's also a roomy carport) leads up to a fifth bedroom, bathroom and office/dressing room. Behind the garage is a huge laundry/mud room where the family's dogs sleep.
An architect the Bowdens originally consulted about the redesign of the house told them they'd be making a huge mistake if they put the living areas on the lower level.
"But it was the best thing we did," says Vanessa.
These rooms all look out on to the bush surrounding the house, and the kitchen and lounge both open to a large private resort-like deck with a swimming pool.
The kitchen is the piece de resistance of the house, and a gourmet cook's dream come true. It's unusually large and has plenty of cupboards and drawers, a gas hob, granite bench tops, Gaggenau and Scholtes appliances and a central island complete with breakfast bar where five people can gather for meals.
The dining area has a log burning fire that heats the whole downstairs area, and the separate lounge can be shut off for privacy. There's also a powder room on this level, along with Vanessa's office.
The Bowdens like natural materials and neutral colours, and by using features like oak and concrete flooring, iron balustrades, wood paneling and polished steel wall coverings, they have given the house a unique rustic-meets-industrial style.
It not only looks great but is extremely practical to live in, says Vanessa.
"It's been wonderful -- especially for teenagers -- but sadly, it is time for us to move on."
