Towering splendour in Remuera

210 Remuera Road, Remuera. Photo / Ted Baghurst

210 REMUERA RD REMUERA

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SIZE: Land 804sq m; house size approx 227sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $1.67 million. Auction Feb 16 (unless sold earlier).

INSPECT: Sun 1.30-2.15pm, Thurs 7-7.30pm, or by appointment

ON THE WEB: www.galbraithrealestate.co.nz

SCHOOL ZONES: Remuera School, Auckland Grammar, Epsom Girls' Grammar.

CONTACT: Linda Galbraith, Galbraith Real Estate, ph 377 6927 or mob 021 966 028.

FEATURES: Grand character home with many original features and three large, light-filled living rooms plus office. Also has a charming garden cottage and double garage on a fully fenced corner site with two entrances.

When 88-year-old Bernard Brooke first laid eyes on this grand character home he thought it was somewhere he and his family could live "quite happily" - and 50 years of ownership have proved him soundly correct.

Bernard says his late wife, Sheila, initially found the property, understood to date from 1914, and liked its traditional charm. Moving meant Sheila would no longer have to tackle two long drives each school day, taking their daughters to St Cuthberts from Papakura.

"I think it was its size that particularly impressed me," says Bernard, mindful of space to raise their two daughters and son. Many character features and Edwardian influences were intact, including fine window detailing and a cute original garden cottage probably built as maid's quarters and swiftly adopted by the children as their playroom.

Bernard's eye for detail and diligence about maintenance shows in the home. His career spanned accountancy, owning a boat-building company and property development, including the building which housed the former Remuera department store Milne and Choyce and the Remuera Rd building (next to St Mark's Church) which long held the National Library's Auckland branch. He is a craftsman himself, judging by the built-in cabinets, wardrobe detailing and sturdy brick and timber fence he installed.

The home is on a fully fenced corner site. Its Remuera Rd face has a pedestrian entrance and double garage accustomed to taking two Mercedes. A gated driveway off Westbourne Rd leads to additional offstreet parking and the home's main entrance.

The weatherboard exterior is accented by wooden shingles, a brick base and a Marseilles tile roof. Impressive columns mark the main entrance and the choice of entry into a traditional anteroom or into one of the living rooms. Three good-sized living rooms downstairs have hosted as many as 80 guests

The huge sitting room incorporates a corner bar and an impressive open fireplace within a towering timber surround. It's a good place to admire the high stud of 3.3m and the lovely arts and crafts staircase with a newel post bearing an antique statue-lamp Bernard found. Eldest daughter Stephanie Fenwick says the sitting room and neighbouring morning room were out of bounds to the children except for special occasions such as Christmas. That might explain why the Axminster carpet laid in the 1970s is still immaculate.

The north-facing morning room's charms include an impressively beamed ceiling, another open fire and a fine bay window with window seats. The neighbouring breakfast room, with adjoining study, has a bank of leadlight windows, the third open fireplace and Bernard's handiwork in detailed inbuilt cabinets.

Bernard says the home is particularly quiet because the internal walls have gib over the top of scrim, rough lining and timber framing.

The Brookes replaced the red formica kitchen with a more subdued design, with extensive storage, including a walk-in pantry. "I had a very, very good wife," Bernard says. Sheila, deputy editor of the Auckland Star's women's pages, preferred to surprise him rather than tell him in advance what lovely dinner she had planned each night.

A toilet off the sizeable separate laundry completes the ground floor.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms plus a family bathroom. The master bedroom has impressive wardrobes, installed by Bernard, and is one of three bedrooms enjoying a leafy green outlook towards the Hauraki Gulf. There is plentiful storage throughout and a workshop under the home.

Included in the cottage gardens are the versatile cottage, lawn and a brick patio, where Bernard and Sheila would relax with a Pimms drink. Nowadays the generous home is much bigger than Bernard needs.