Corner queen

Queenies aims to give the comfortable feeling of being in someone's living room. Photo / Babiche Martens

Street corners are tailor-made for surprises and this Freemans Bay corner cafe is, by its very existence, one of life's truly sweet surprises.

Just ask everyone who has swung past this formerly anonymous corner between Franklin Rd and College Hill and pulled up with a start outside Queenies Lunchroom wondering why the heck they can't remember what used to be in this building.

This place has been her forever, right? It's got "Queenies Bldg" stamped into its plaster exterior, old style painted signs, Grandma's tea cups and floral canister...

There's that paint-by-numbers wall by artist Tyla Va'eau, the green vinyl counter and those Coke box seats...

And on it goes, to the amusement of Allana Owen, the proprietor, and her husband, architect Paul Brown, who can claim existing-user rights to this city-fringe talking point.

His architectural practice, Clark Brown Architects, is right next door in the commercial building that he and Allana owned for a couple of years without realising that they also owned the grass plot adjoining the council verge.

There, right under their noses, sat 60 sq m of big possibilities just begging to be turned into the cafe they opened last November.

Itching for a creative project, Allana dismissed the doubters who believed that their cafe had to be on Ponsonby Rd and minimalist in style to succeed.

"It takes self-belief but if you have an idea that sparks a passion and you do it with integrity then just go with it."

Forget "minimalism" and don't dare talk "retro" or "kiwiana" either. "I just hate those words," she says. Think instead, as they both did, of a "corner store" or a favourite "local" that gets you connected with your neighbourhood.

"It's about people being able to take ownership of a public place where they can meet and make friends with the warmth of being in someone's front living room," says Allana.

From chef's blackboard menu treats and hot chocolates in Temuka mugs to the DIY toast from your table-top toaster, Queenies is underpinned by nostalgia in a deceptively simple building.

"I didn't want to over-design the space," Paul explains. "The scale and the materials are actually all pretty simple."

New villa-style sash windows, French doors, a panelled ceiling, built-in French banquette seating and the chequerboard painted floor in the green/cream colours of vintage enamelware define the interior.

The rest - including the vintage paper towel holder in the Florence Broadhurst-wallpapered bathroom - has Allana's touch all over it. Colour is her forte but she's savvy enough to know that "the louder the better" isn't always the best. Credit here goes to Clark Brown architect Natalie Snowden for the beautiful muted tones within this big picture.

Every piece here has its own story, from the classic, newly powder-coated La San Marco espresso machine refurbished by the guys at Supreme coffee roasters, to the long marble table from an old butchery.

And every day brings yet another bemused person in through Queenies' doors. "Even the little lady who once lived in an old house next door couldn't work it out either," says Allana.

* Queenies Lunchroom, 24A Spring St, Freemans Bay. Ph: (09) 378 8977. Open Mon-Fri 7am-3.30pm; Sat 8am-2pm.