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Dan Holloway's house in Devonport is known as "the castle", but he fears it will crumble into a ruin without a major rebuild soon.
To prove his point, Mr Holloway fills plastic bags with chunks of plaster that have fallen off the inside walls.
"Here's what fell down on to my kitchen bench overnight," he told North Shore planning commissioners, who heard his development plans for the Kerr St property this week.
"Why haven't I fixed it? There's no way to plaster on to something in this condition ... There's no bonding surface ... I'd be just wasting my time trying to patch it."
The 1885 two-storey villa, known as "Woodlands", stands out among the well-kept homes in one of North Shore City's most coveted streets.
It is on a ridge leading up Mt Victoria and looks out to Cheltenham Beach and Rangitoto Island.
A 2005 QV report puts the land value of the 2000sq m section at $2 million. The house was built of plastered mass concrete finished in a stone block pattern, making it look as solid as a bank.
But Mr Holloway said the building method used hard-packed lime bonded material - local volcanic scoria, sea shells and sea sand - without steel reinforcing and there are cracks through the structure.
"My main concern is for the structural integrity of the building.
"An engineer looked at it and couldn't wait to get out quick enough. He said it should not be lived in."
For safety, wife Barbara and four children live in a rented house.
Mr Holloway bought the house in 1981 and left it in three flats for seven years.
"For 14 years I've been trying to do something to the place. Our need is to have something we can live in. We need a house with six bedrooms.
"I have heard it said it's a grandiose or fanciful concept. Well, it's not."
He said he also needed an office - he develops electronic funds transfer systems - a room for his collection of primitive art and a basement garage for 18 cars.
Mr Holloway has applied for consent to add two double-storey wings to the eastern and western walls of the present building, a glass dome-shaped conservatory at the back, a service room on the roof and a power-generating windmill.
On the existing house, a two-storey veranda glazed in for a sunporch 60 years ago will be reinstated, but Mr Holloway said this will mean removing unstable wall sections.
The extensions will frame the existing structure. "We are basically rebuilding that building ."
To make room for the new structure, Mr Holloway needs consent to demolish the 1930s bungalow next door which he also owns.
North Shore City Council consultant planner Peter Neeve said the older building was in a "very poor state of repair" and needed urgent repairs to ensure its protection.
But he recommends that land use consent be declined because the additions will impact on the amenity of the neighbourhood and streetscape of Mays and Kerr Sts, and on views of Mt Victoria. Mr Neeve said the proposal would not ensure the protection of the heritage qualities of the category B scheduled building.
Devonport Heritage secretary Margot McRae said the application should be declined. The proposed additions would triple the size of the landmark house and overwhelm it.
Mrs McRae said she had been saddened at the neglect of the house and believed it was a typical case of "demolition by neglect".
The commissioners adjourned the hearing for more information on some effects of the proposal.
