SCHOOL ZONES:
Birkenhead Primary, Northcote Primary, Northcote College.
CONTACT:
Ryan Dixon, Ray White, 0276 323 285
Hiring a digger to sort out their driveway triggered a top-to-toe renovation of the Birkenhead home of builder Sam Mills and interior designer Erica Goodwin. When the couple bought the house early last year, they planned to live in it for up to
a year before starting any work, butone thing led to another and 14 months later their makeover is complete.
Few alterations had been made to the house since it was built as a bungalow in 1927. Previous owners, who lived in it for about 25 years, had developed the downstairs level in the 1970s and altered the kitchen in the 1990s, but all its bungalow features were intact.
"The first time I walked inside, the house felt comfortable and as though it had seen a lot of very happy times," says Erica, a flight attendant who has retrained as an interior designer, and who used her skills to transform her home.
Sam says the garden was overgrown and the house was a series of small rooms that lacked flow, but he could see the potential for improving the property without compromising its integrity.
"We liked that the house had basically not been touched for over 30 years and most of the joinery was original," he says.
Sam and Erica have retained the house's original footprint while modernising the interior and changing layout to create a better flow. They have extensively landscaped the 878sq m section, which backs onto Le Roys Bush.
This large stand of native bush is the second biggest in Auckland after Titirangi and leads to Little Shoal Bay.
Like the bush, Sam and Erica's back garden is home to impressive totara, pohutukawa, rimu and cabbage trees, which are tall enough to frame the house without overshadowing it.
Part of the beauty of the fenced section is its feeling of privacy. Neighbouring properties don't look on to it and its front access is from Glade Lane, a private access way off Hinemoa St.
You access the back of the property from Glade Pl, which also runs off Hinemoa St and, like Glade Lane, is just a few minutes' walk from some great cafes.
Sam and Erica's renovation has included thinning trees on the section to let more light into the house, building a double garage at the front of the section and adding extensive hardwood decking that connects the house to the garden.
They have also created an entranceway at the end of a pathway that runs down one side of the house, renovated the kitchen and two bathrooms and shifted the master bedroom upstairs.
The entrance door upstairs leads directly into an L-shaped open plan space that includes the kitchen, dining room and two living spaces.
French doors from the kitchen open to a north-west facing patio and terraced decking that leads to the garage, which has a workspace behind it. Another deck, opening off one living space, looks out through trees to the lower level of the garden and Le Roys Bush.
A small hallway off the open plan living leads to the master bedroom and en suite.
Downstairs are two large bedrooms, which open to the garden and have access to the large main bathroom between them. On one side of the hallway that runs between both bedrooms past the bathroom, a long sliding door conceals a cupboard style laundry.
This door can also be pulled across to shut off one of the bedrooms that doubles as a lounge when the door is open.
