SCHOOL ZONES:
Birkenhead school, Northcote intermediate, college.
CONTACT:
Jordan Selwyn, 027 671 5882 or Brooke Barrass, 021 131 0566, Harcourts.
AUCTION:
April 12, 6pm, on site.
*Plus off-street
Five years ago, television journalist Matt Chisholm's property search was pretty vague.
He was moving from Ponsonby flatting, had thoughts of city fringe and wanted a solid place he could do up.
He quickly realised that he could get more for his money north of the bridge.
When he steppedon to the deck of the cedar and tile house in the bush off a quiet cul de sac at the top of Birkenhead Village, he knew he'd found his project.
"It was February, the sun was shining, I stood out on the deck with all this bush around and thought, 'This would be really nice'," he says.
"I'm a country boy from the deep south, and from here you wouldn't know you're in Auckland, though you're only 10 minutes from the city centre, off-peak."
The house is down a right-of-way, with only driveway, parking pads and decks - no lawns - between house and bush. Matt realised that beneath the dated decorating, closed off rooms and heavy beams, there was a lot of potential to add value.
But best of all, the two-storeyed house had a second living area - a mezzanine above the living room - and a ton of wasted attic space.
With the help of an architect and a builder, Matt removed the half walls and dated doors separating the living room from the dining and kitchen areas, installing steel beams to make one airy open plan room.
The "Swedish sauna" decorating of knotty pine feature wall and balustrade was replaced with crisp gib and glass, allowing light into the upstairs room that Matt calls his "urban man-cave" (also known as a TV room).
But it was opening into the attic space off the upper floor master bedroom that yielded the biggest bonus: by rearranging doors, adding floors, insulation and lining, Matt was able to make room for a sleek en suite.
He still shudders remembering evenings and weekends removing disintegrating pink insulation and painting outdated wooden beams, but was pleased that now-wife Ellen joined him in the later stages of the renovation.
"I tried to do a lot myself," says Matt. "I'd get home from the daily current affairs show, then have to put on a suit and pull out Batts. I remember it took me four days to do this bedroom.
"Then Ellen turned up and she really made the place a home. We got married last year, and then when we had Bede in September, that really completed our home."
The couple chose a sophisticated palette of greys, with white, with grey carpet and a textured charcoal tile in the lobby and wet areas and re-finished the cedar exterior in a smart mid-grey.
The kitchen was redone in white with grey/white quartz counter-tops.
Removing the load-bearing walls made room for a generous island, big enough for bar stools for gatherings.
Both the dining and living areas open to the decks and close-up views of the old oak and rimu trees.
The finishing touches were to extend a formerly poky deck into a large entertaining space that wraps all the way around the house and getting the landscaping retaining walls at the entrance to match in low-maintenance, wide-plank vitex.
"We have busy lives, with a lot of travelling for me, so this is a bit of a sanctuary. You don't feel like you're in Auckland, with the tuis and wood pigeons. Our parents visiting from Southland couldn't believe how safe and quiet it felt here."
It is the pull of the south that has them selling their city retreat so they can buy in Central Otago.
