73 King George Ave, Epsom, Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Elizabeth and Nick Birchall love their garden and neighbourhood so much that they are never moving out: they've subdivided their family property of 23 years and are building next door.
The couple had always lived around the village, moving houses only as their family grew from one to three children. They were expecting their fourth child when they found this spreading property of 2400sq m, up a right of way, backing on to the park, still with its original tennis court.
But their dreams of renovating the grand old house were upset by builders' inspections that showed the years of neglect (at one stage the house had 16 kitchenettes) had damaged it beyond repair.
Luckily there was plenty of good news. Buried under weeds and straggling plants was an astounding terraced garden built around an ancient lava flow, with mature trees, volcanic rock walls and a secret entrance to the park.
The keen gardeners had landscape architect Mathew Bradbury design an upper arid and spa garden area around the house, complete with an intriguing water rill that is revealed and concealed by stone pavers, ending in a steel-fenced spa pond, built by Harald Decker.
Over the years Nick and Elizabeth developed the rest of the property with the help of their friend, well-known landscaper Barbara Garrett, who specialises in planting design. The garden is an intriguing mix of tropical and native plants reached by winding paths.
The house design also got a lot of attention from the art-loving pair. Their brief was the Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style - spreading and bedding into the landscape - with versatile spaces for their growing family.
There are very few square angles, as walls taper to frame vistas, ceilings raise to double height, levels change. Exterior walls of local rock transition inside to South Island schist inside, so that the house feels grounded into the site.
A covered porch extends the lines of the living room into the garden (and that arid courtyard), terraces of warm sandstone lead to lawns and paths.
The creamy kauri floors are complemented by the earthy colours of Elizabeth's decorating of deep sandy walls with feature walls of rich burgundy and fashionable deep blue, with a lighter turquoise in the kitchen.
Elizabeth's family's business was Mercer stainless steel, so naturally there are stainless steel benches. They have patinated over the nearly quarter century to an almost earthy finish. Windows, balustrades and doors are cedar.
Throughout the house, cabinet makers built exquisitely detailed cabinets, including on walls in the living room and the dining room sideboard, shelving and filing cabinets in the study at the front of the house, and a striking curved headboard in the master bedroom.
One side of the house was a zone for the kids (who were aged 8 down to newborn when the Birchalls moved in).
The huge family room that overlooked the tennis court has done duty as bedroom and a media room.
With a bathroom in locker-room style so tennis players could come straight in to shower, and a big laundry and private courtyard garden, it could even do duty as a nanny or granny quarters.
The casual dining room beside the kitchen is a favourite for gatherings while the cook works behind the curved jarrah peninsula bench.
"We'll be here another 30 years, but we've realised that this big house needs kids running around, playing in the garden and the park, making it theirs," says Elizabeth.