75 St Marys Rd, St Marys Bay, Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst
To take a wander with Pat White through the St Marys Bay house she and her late husband Tony created, is to take a trip through old Auckland. The couple launched a roll call of Auckland and Ponsonby's favourite watering holes, from Tony's restaurants the Cavalier, the Birdcage, Nags Head, and Harlequin.
The kids worked in the business, guests were considered family — and Pat sold their last pub only three years ago.
Tony was passionate about antiques and about retaining the city's history when all around white shoe developers were bowling Victorian treasures. But Pat and the three children — then aged 12 to 18 — thought he'd gone too far when he proposed moving them from their 17-year residence in Bayswater to a shabby old villa in St Marys Bay.
"Well it was 1983. No one wanted to live here then," says Pat. "It was the worst house in the street, the area was in lots of flats.
"Our son Jonny, then 12, was so furious that he went back to Takapuna Grammar. He got over it, and then he loved it and now, of course, is trying to get back in. Lizzie [then 18] burst into tears when she saw it."
Part of Tony's sales pitch was to lift the bay-fronted villa on to a basement so the north-facing living areas and deck got grandstand views to the water and city. He updated the ramble of rooms at the back of the house into a kitchen, bathroom (not a lean-to), a family room and a dining room in a glass atrium that opens to the pool, views and deck.
That helped turn the old place into a sunny, welcoming family home.
Over the years, the Whites added a pool, surrounded by decks at various levels. About eight years ago Pat gave the decor an overhaul, replacing the kitchen with quartz countertops, German fittings and enviable appliances.
The family bathroom and the en suite off her bedroom also were upgraded, fashionable white paint and smart grey carpeting updating the rest of the decor. She also re-surfaced the classically shaped pool. Everywhere, french doors and windows, open to the verandas and decks.
But the bones of the original house remain.
Tony was a regular traveller to England and Europe, filling containers with antiques and his beloved stained glass windows. All through the house, he's slotted in his favourite finds.
The windows on the enclosed porch off the living room were designed to fit slivers of beautifully painted glass, while the front door and surrounds were upgraded to a level far beyond what the original humble building would have had.
He was meticulous about restoring the existing plasterwork on ceilings and the hall archway, adding his found light fixtures, door furniture and more. (All will stay with the house). They added an internal access double garage and plenty of laundry and utility spaces, plus they have the rare luxury in this area of plenty of off-street parking.
The couple loved entertaining, so Tony insisted on two sitting rooms. The one at the front of the house could easily convert back to a bedroom, giving three bedrooms on this floor.
In the middle sitting room, Pat had the original fireplace updated to a modern one, so that she can have cosy flames at the push of a button. Her front bedroom has a generous closet and bathroom, converted from a small old single bedroom, and there's another generous double room on this main floor.
Lifting the house all those years ago opened up space for a great family and guest suite downstairs. The blue-stone walls — repeated in the grand fence and sweep of entry stairs — keep the place at an even temperature. It has its own street-level entrance as Pat kept up her hospitality chops by running a busy B&B for a number of years, but the internal stairs are still there and could be reinstated.
In the meantime, family use the area —with bedroom, two sitting rooms, kitchenette and bathroom — as a pied a terre during the week to save driving into the city from the rural fringes.
Pat has loved her front garden, all roses and old flowers. But she is ready now to let the big family home go, moving around the corner to a smaller place.
"I'm ready. It will be very emotional to leave this, but I'm not moving from the area," she says.