SCHOOL ZONES:
Meadowbank School, Remuera Intermediate, Selwyn College.
CONTACT:
Cathy Roselli, Ray White, ph 021 750 454.
Having been North Taranaki farmers, it was important to Sue and Stan Shaw to maintain their connection with the great outdoors by having a home with an uplifting outlook.
Eighty-two-year-old Sue, widowed since April, is ever appreciative of the wide city and harbour view she's gazed upon for the past 18 years.
"This house has got such a good aspect. Stan liked sitting in this front lounge because he could look out the window and see all that was going on."
The home they had built in 1996 has views of the city and harbour. The Auckland Museum, Sky Tower and the Orakei Basin feature in their outlook, interspersed with lots of greenery.
Eighteen years ago the site's potential prompted them to buy here after a stint living in Meadowbank. They had a two-bedroom house transported away before they built and subdivided.
"It appealed here because it was flattish and sunny with a view that continues right out to the sea."
On a quiet no-exit street, the home shares a side driveway and has fully fenced, manageably sized grounds which include lawn. This allowed the couple some green-fingered pursuits such as a few home-grown veges.
"When our grandchildren were small I can remember them enjoying running around outside and playing a game right around the house."
The pillared front veranda basking in summer sun also wraps around the side of the home. A tiled entry foyer with under-stair storage transitions visitors to downstairs living.
The combined dining room-formal lounge is accented with extra detail such as wooden double doors and two stands of wooden shelves recessed into lounge alcoves. Stan's woodworking skills restored an antique dark wood fire surround they bought from a Warkworth antique barn, now resplendent in the lounge and incorporating a fire-effect heater.
The kitchen is open plan with a north-facing lounge with heat pump and which opens to the front veranda. Sue's pleased they chose a kitchen colour scheme of cream offset by mahogany because of its timelessness.
Granddaughter Catherine Hird has pleasant childhood memories of biscuit tins here well stocked by her nana's baking.
Sue says: "This house is marvellous for entertaining. The flow is good and people can move around easily.
"When we built, one of the things Stan was very particular about was having a bedroom downstairs for when we got older and that worked out well."
This is accompanied by the downstairs bathroom and a walk-through laundry leading to the internal-access garage.
Stan's passion for vintage vehicles meant they stipulated four-car garaging for their build.
"He'd built up a 1907 Demeester and a 1928 Model A, starting from what looked like a pile of rubbish, I would say."
Once they'd sold his prized vehicles they reduced the garage to a more typically sized double. The back half was made into a carpeted games-rumpus room where Stan spent many hours on his model railway.
