All in a good cause

Some of the finest architecturally designed homes in the city are opening their doors in the name of charity. By VICKI HOLDER.

Anyone with a penchant for great architecture will be turned on by this year's line-up in the Look Good Feel Better Fine Homes Tours, sponsored by Kellands Real Estate.

The two tours showcase outstanding work by prominent architects in the Ponsonby, St Marys Bay, Herne Bay area and on the North Shore.

Now in its fifth year, this event is held in aid of the Look Good Feel Better programme, which helps women undergoing cancer treatment by providing them with a daily beauty regime.

Deborah Kelland of Kellands says it is a privilege to be offered the chance to view these exquisite properties. "I feel humbled by the generosity of the owners who have given their time and personal space to have their homes open for this great cause. I think that they have embraced the value of the Look Good Feel Better charity and the immense difference it makes to people's lives."

The Western Bays tour includes a St Marys Bay home designed by and built for James Lloyd in 1913. Influenced by the Arts & Craft movement, Lloyd's home features cedar shingle cladding and Frank Lloyd Wright-style stained-glass windows. Timber is widely used in the beautiful oak parquet floors, stairs, door and window frames. There have been alterations and additions to the home over the years. The latest renovation was in 1993. A seamless, sympathetic renovation by Malcolm Walker, it gave the owners a comfortable, flexible and practical living environment.

Surrounded by traditional villas behind Ponsonby Rd, a unique property takes advantage of a vacant piece of land earmarked to become a KFC car park. Architects Patterson won a national architectural ward in 1994 for their design of this unusual courtyard house. From the street, the only visible feature is a metal wall. The entry is a "lost in space-style" door, which swings upwards to a central courtyard and pool. A functional two-bedroom home around the courtyard is built of concrete and steel with a floating staircase that adds dramatic appeal.

Mollies Hotel in Tweed St, Herne Bay, is one of the area's grand colonial mansions. It has broad limestone stairs like the ceremonial entrances to the greatest salons. Venetian plastering on the walls is the owner's extraordinary handiwork, which gives a sense of grandeur. Outside, Dame Malvina Major once sang under a stunning gazebo - a feature of the immaculate garden.

In Bayswater on the North Shore, at 12 Marine Tce (as featured on the cover of last week's edition of Real Estate), a Richard Meier-inspired home was designed by architect Mark Tatton. In a prime clifftop position on a peninsula, this luxurious penthouse commands uninterrupted views of the Bayswater marina, Auckland's inner harbour, the city and Westhaven. The three-bedroom home offers huge living spaces with numerous balconies. The master bedroom suite boasts a walk-in dressing room with a cherrywood wardrobe system and a sumptuous bath with Italian limestone and designer fixtures. The rooftop terrace has a hot tub, lap pool, plunge pool and a poolhouse with a gym.

Tucked down a right-of-way through native bush in Campbells Bay, a clifftop home in View Rd was designed by architect George Paterson of Dodd Paterson Bukowski & Rehm. It's an indoor-outdoor kind of house with warm rimu ceilings, very few walls and an open living flow. The centre of the house is an S-shaped, bagged brick wall housing the stairway to the bedrooms downstairs. Lots of windows and generous decks open the house to the outdoors. Inspired by bures seen on a trip to Hawaii, the house is built of weathered cedar and the roofline features peaks and flat planes. Ted Smyth's style is evident in the garden, which includes a Japanese-inspired bridge and a bush area stepping down to the seafront.

The first tour is on Friday, March 26, while North Shore homes will be open the following week on Friday, April 2.