KEY POINTS:
52 HOME ST,
GREY LYNN.
Emily Meates reckons she's been living in the secret Auckland suburb of "Stokesville" - and her maiden name of "Stokes" provides a pretty good clue as to why.
Most buyers would classify the stylishly-renovated three-bedroom 1890s home she shares with husband Drew and
their two nippers as being in Arch Hill or Grey Lynn. But "Stokesville" is a family joke, stemming from an unusual "sibling sandwich situation" which has seen Emily and her two brothers each living with their families on three adjoining streets for many years.
"Stokes is my maiden name. My elder brother lives about 150 feet to my west with his family and then my younger brother and his wife decided to buy a property around the corner about 150 feet to my east, and there's Home Reserve - a brilliant little communal playground - right in the middle between us all. So we renamed the area 'Stokesville' instead of Arch Hill," she says with a grin. "It's been great."
"And it's been fantastic for my parents as they come up from Christchurch to see all their grandchildren and they just go between the three houses. My family is from Christchurch and the only reason we're selling now is we're moving down there for Drew's new job."
Family ties aren't the only reason Emily remains captivated with the home where she's lived for a decade, updating it to meet changing needs as she's changed from single party girl to young mum. "There is definitely something magical about this property. From the street, you don't realise what great outdoor living it has."
The charming three-bedroom 1890s home offers versatile alfresco living across three decks, covered outdoor room and spacious, but low-maintenance, rear garden with a raised lawn adjacent to a paved outdoor-dining patio.
It's been totally transformed from the quaintly dated and somewhat cramped two-bedroom home Emily moved into a decade ago when first back from overseas.
She bought it with one of her brothers for her to live in with flatmates, immediately using some of its gargantuan bathroom space to create internal access stairs downstairs to a new third bedroom with its own en suite and own entrance, adjacent to the downstairs laundry and hallway.
The independence offered by this set-up may suit a household wanting to include a flatmate to offset their mortgage.
Emily and Drew continued to improve the home after they moved in to suit their changing lifestyle as parents to 3-year-old Madeline, 1-year-old Frankie and one-time wildcat Ru-Ru. They've extended the once-compact living room and installed a designer kitchen to create a roomy open-plan living-dining-kitchen warmed by the huge original brick open fireplace. This area opens to myriad outdoor living choices and has also created a covered outdoor room underneath.
They've re-landscaped in a child-friendly, but low-maintenance style, redecorated and added storage inside and out. The home is warmly welcoming, thanks to their interests in art and music and the character features they've retained (such as polished wood floors and the main bathroom's claw-foot bath with aged veneer.)
While they'll take their art and Drew's guitar collection with them, Emily is delighted she resisted passing temptations to uproot the beautiful rich-red Dublin Bay roses which announce the home, snaking through the front picket fence next to the home's off-street parking spot.
"Nowadays people around here know the house by those roses."