SCHOOL ZONES:
Sunnyhills School, Farm Cove Intermediate, Pakuranga College, St Kentigern
CONTACT:
Penelope Franca, Ray White, ph 021 127 5573 or 576 4099.
AUCTION:
November 26 at 7pm, on site.
It takes an eye for design and a very good imagination to be able to look at two tired 1960s apartments and see how you could turn them into one striking family home.
It then takes a lot of patience to live on site while the transformation is being carried out.
Luckily Chris and Andy Martin have more than their fair share of these attributes, and as a result, the apartments they bought in a prestigious Sunnyhills street eight years ago are now a spacious and stylish single home ideal for family living.
Tackling a major renovation was not something the couple planned on when they went house-hunting, but they loved the location of the building - across the road from the Tamaki Estuary - and could see its potential.
"Our friends said, 'Are you mad?' and maybe we were, a little," says Chris. "If we knew back then what we know now we might not have done it, but I'm glad we did."
The couple lived in the downstairs apartment while the one upstairs was being renovated, and then swapped over.
"It was a dusty job, we had to have sheets everywhere because of the dust, so it was a relief when it was done," says Andy.
Some of the walls were covered in hessian that had been painted over, and trying to remove it was such a nightmare that it proved easier to rip off the wallboards and re-gib. Several walls were removed to create open-plan living upstairs and down. Carpets were pulled up to reveal rimu floorboards that have since been polished. A new kitchen and three new bathrooms have been installed.
The makeover has created a home that manages to be contemporary while paying homage to classic design features of the 60s - such as vertical cedar cladding combined with brick.
Image 1 of 7: A major renovation has turned two apartments into a single family-sized home. Photos / Michelle Hyslop
The ground floor is ideal for kids. There are three spacious bedrooms, all with fitted wardrobes, a fully tiled bathroom with a separate toilet and a big laundry with access straight out to the back yard. But the jewel in the crown is the rumpus room, an enormous space created by opening up the original living and dining rooms and kitchen on this level.
"You could have the children down here making lots of noise and mess, and it is away from the other living areas upstairs," points out Chris, who has two grown-up children.
Ranch sliders open to a covered veranda and walled garden - the perfect place for small children to play in full view.
The Martins have a pool table in the rumpus room, which gets well used when they have visitors, but they tend to spend most of their time upstairs. The living area here is light and sunny thanks to a wall of sliding glass doors opening to the deck, which was extended from a "narrow ledge" to a big outdoor space that enjoys a great view over the houses across the road to the water beyond. Glass balustrades help to make the most of the outlook.
There's a view of Rangitoto from the window in the open-plan kitchen, which was enlarged from a "very small box". It now has stone bench tops, a pantry, ample drawers and a gas oven. "One thing I really wanted was a decent kitchen," says Chris.
Another thing on her wish list was a dressing room - she was used to having plenty of wardrobe space in her previous home and wanted something similar in this house.
Two bedrooms next to each other were reconfigured to become a spacious master bedroom and a dressing room that leads through to the en suite bathroom.
Another bedroom on this level could be used as an office, and there's a family bathroom.
Outside, there is scope to further landscape the garden and possibly even put a swimming pool in the back yard. As well as the double carport, there is also a workshop/shed and room to park a boat.
The Martins have loved living in the area, particularly having easy access to major transport routes and being across the road from the Pakuranga Rotary Walkway, which follows the Tamaki Estuary. But they don't need so much space and are downsizing.
