Warm and inviting suntrap

11 Heywood Cres, Epsom. Photo / Ted Baghurst

11 HEYWOOD CRES, EPSOM

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SIZE: Land 1085sq m, house 220sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $1.37 million. Similar homes in the area have sold upwards of $1.6 million. Auction 6pm, August 14 at 369 Remuera Rd, Remuera.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1-1.30pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: rwremuera.co.nz/RMU21405

SCHOOL ZONES: Three Kings School, Auckland Normal Intermediate, Auckland Grammar School, Epsom Girls' Grammar School.

CONTACT: Steve Williams, ph 027 295 6153 or Caroline Yau, ph 021 618 211, Ray White.

FEATURES: Wonderful Californian bungalow on full quarter-acre section, soaked in sunshine, private, secure, child-friendly backyard, in- ground swimming pool, brilliant cul-de-sac location. Plus off-street parking for a boat and two more cars.

Robyn MacLeod has a little trouble putting her finger on exactly what she loves best about her warm, sunny, immaculate 1920s bungalow in Epsom.

Later, she explains why: "I realised that I don't see the house as a separate entity from the family. Over the years it has become part of us as our family has grown up. It is so inextricably bound with the myriad of birthday parties, extended family gatherings with cousins and grandparents, barbecues and games in the backyard and my children's baby, childhood and teenage years.

"This is where they learnt to crawl, to swim, to read and swing in the trees."

Robyn hopes the house is now an inseparable part of the golden glow of childhood her two children will remember forever.

She and husband Tony Stack-Forsyth are in their early 60s now and the children are grown up. It's time to move on and they have already found a new home in St Heliers near the sea.

Still, they are reluctant sellers because - like the owners before them - they have lived in the house for 31 years.

When they arrived from the hustle and bustle of London in the early 80s ready to start a family, they fell in love with the then small weatherboard house with the grand entrance in a peaceful, leafy Epsom cul-de-sac in the Grammar zone and close to cafes and parks.

They asked architect and friend Richard Harris, of Jasmax, to help redesign the house, and a bedroom wing was added. It has a large master bedroom with en suite and two smaller bedrooms off an airy hallway of windows, with French doors opening to the enclosed, sunny backyard.

The house has also gone from no storage to tonnes of it, with cupboards and recesses maximising unused space. Robyn stands in the roomy kitchen, which was once a bedroom, and looks out through the open-plan sunroom - one of three living areas - telling how when her children were older they confessed to climbing on to one of the window ledges and jumping into the fully fenced pool below.

She laughs that she is glad she didn't know this at the time.

From the sunroom you can walk into the formal lounge and dining room where a fireplace has been added. It's a long, regal room where the table and couches have been pushed aside many times to make way for dancing.

Stairs beside the lounge lead down to a separate bedroom with its own living area, perfect for teenagers or for guests.

Down here is internal access to the garage with carport alongside and a nifty "man cave", where Tony loves to potter.

Back upstairs, the kitchen also leads to the big deck and the flat, grass yard where an avocado tree and grapefruit tree are laden with fruit.

The sheltered backyard is a suntrap, Robyn says, and is never too windy. The sloping banks and trees give privacy from the neighbours.

But Robyn says she has also loved living here because of the friendliness of the neighbours. This is a cul-de-sac where people still gather for street barbecues.

She hopes the next owners will love the house as much as her family has - perhaps they, too, will stay for 31 years.