SCHOOL ZONES:
Greenhithe Primary, Albany Junior High School, Albany Senior High School.
CONTACT:
Clare Ellis, Bayleys, 021 614 778
AUCTION:
November 17.
Flanked by subtropical gardens, a boardwalk through the bush, lawn and a courtyard, the pool is in full view of the north-facing formal and informal areas and the large kitchen. Homes that embrace extended family living often involve seemingly endless alterations and extensions. Not for Natalie and Brett Turner. Their family home has been a two-part, three-generational, completed work of art from day one.
They have raised their three children in this four-bedroom main house and these now-young adults have grown up sharing their lives with their grandparents, Brett's parents, Clive and Sandy Turner, who have lived in their adjoining two-bedroom home along the path and up the steps.
Independence has been the key here. Visitors knock on the front door of whoever they want to see. Wider family life has come together in a home in harmony with the surrounding bush.
Around the table 20 years ago, with Dave Strachan of Strachan Group Architects, these four adults stepped up with their ideas and the result is a home that has supported everyone's lifestyle, requiring nothing more than decorative updates along the way.
Built of rendered concrete block with cavities, on the architect's recommendation, the house has flared pillars in the same schist that Brett, a greenkeeper, has repeated throughout his design of the tiered, subtropical gardens.
The schist as a unifying feature has never lost its appeal to Natalie. "I love the schist. It anchors everything."
This is Natalie and Brett Turner's first home and the only home that Ali, 23, Logan, 21, and Luke, 16, have ever known. Its central living areas are flanked by three bedrooms and bathroom to the left of the entrance and, to the right, a large laundry, separate toilet and two double garages for the respective homes. The master bedroom suite is upstairs.
In 1999, two years after Natalie and Brett moved in, they installed the in-ground pool with weir, which was, says Natalie, a godsend when she was home with a new baby and two toddlers. Flanked by subtropical gardens, a boardwalk through the bush, lawn and a courtyard, the pool is in full view of the north-facing formal and informal areas and the large kitchen.
Working with interior designer Kerry Aitken, Natalie and Brett updated the original galley kitchen to feature a new engineered stone island bench that better supports their social lifestyle. Off the family room, there is "the good lounge", as Natalie calls it. They rarely, if ever, use it as a sitting room but its tall schist fireplace makes for a stunning focal point in a room that is ideal when there are a lot of visitors.
As the children grew into teens, Natalie and Brett felt they needed their own spaces for entertaining their friends away from the main house.
Instead of an extension, they went for a dwelling with the form, scale and style that is every bit the equal of their home. The result is the pool house that hunkers down below the pool, designed by architect Simon Pirie with input from the Turner children. The open living area has a pitched, timber-panelled, acoustic ceiling, a kitchenette and a separate bathroom. The adjoining stepped-down semi-outdoor living area has an outdoor fireplace, adjustable louvred roof and cafe screens on two sides. The whole "party house", as Brett calls it, rolls out at 113sq m.
"This has been a great place for the kids and their friends because they're a little more remote, says Brett. More recently much has changed within this extended family and Brett and Natalie have decided to move to a smaller home better suited to their needs, nearby in Greenhithe.
