Wait there's more in Devonport

78 Victoria Rd, Devonport. Photo / Geoff Dale

78 VICTORIA RD, DEVONPORT

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SIZE: Land 600sq m, house 314sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $1.25 million. Auction on site 10.45am on November10.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12pm-12.45pm.

ON THE WEB: www.nzsothebysrealty.com/BSA10067

SCHOOL ZONES: Devonport Primary, Takapuna Grammar.

CONTACT: Patrick McCarthy ph 0272 333 988 or 360 7778; Kate Eible, 021 626 467 or 360 7772, New Zealand Sothebys International Realty.

FEATURES: Superbly renovated and extended villa on Devonport village's doorstep and at the base of Mt Victoria. Expansive indoor and outdoor living areas, loads of storage, gas fire, central heating, sound system, rooms wired for television, phone and internet, night lighting in garden, parking for up to five cars.

To borrow from the estate agents' lexicon, this graciously and tenderly renovated villa offers More Than Meets the Eye!

One minute's walk from Devonport village, Paul and Juliet Barnard's home appears from the street to be an attractive, elevated single-storey house with an internal double garage that may stable a couple of Minis.

In fact, the roofline conceals a second-level master suite with views from Herne Bay's twin towers to Kelly Tarlton's; a massive living extension, a garage that could stable a cavalry and another parking space behind the landscaped back garden.

The section was originally 1000sqm and extended to the access road to Mt Victoria. But the previous owners subdivided and built on that frontage, granting an easement on their right-of-way - which ends at the additional car park - to number 78.

"It's fantastic for guests or when you need to bring a trailer in, or for someone with a boat," says Juliet. "And it's great to be able to walk out the back and straight up the mount."

Parking and central heating were top of the villa lovers' agenda when they bought it in 2004 - well, they had been living in the UK. They built up to create the master floor, down to create the garage, and back to create formal and informal lounges and a huge, open-plan kitchen-dining area.

The builder was Jackie's father, Tomo Mitrovic, who had specialised in villa renovation and always dreamed of building a home for each of his four children (just one to go now). If he'd finished it yesterday, the extension he built in 2007 couldn't look more pristine. The kitchen was custom-made with stainless-steel benches, vast stone-topped island/breakfast bar, double sinks and 900mm electric oven with five gas burners.

Bifold windows and doors open this space and the adjacent family lounge to the outdoors. "It's east-facing, which is great," says Juliet. "It doesn't get too hot in summer but it gets all the beautiful morning sun." And because the house is so elevated, the front rooms keep the sun until it sets. A gas fire heats the lovely formal lounge, which can be separated from the informal one by cavity doors, and the house is well-insulated.

The bay-windowed front bedroom was the original lounge, but the Barnards replaced the fireplace with a double wardrobe and put a big single one into the bedroom behind. Across the hall, the former master bedroom has double sash windows and a little en suite with shower. The gorgeous downstairs bathroom is furnished with a Royal Doulton claw-foot bath made in 1891, a big shower and an antique sideboard.

Upstairs, the new master suite comprises bedroom, big en suite with underfloor heating, walk-in wardrobe, roof storage space and a spacious study, nursery or lounge. Bifold doors open the bedroom to a secluded balcony with sensational harbour and city views - "It's lovely in summer to get the breeze, and sometimes the smell of baking and coffee roasting in Devonport" - and the other room to an equally private deck looking over roofs, trees and water to Tamaki Dr.

Because it's her dad's work, the house has a sentimental significance for Juliet that makes it even harder to leave it. But she and Paul have bought land in Cheltenham and are fulfilling a long-held plan to build a home from scratch - in villa style, of course.