NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Property

Clean elegant lines

By Graham Hepburn
NZ Herald·
23 Jun, 2017 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images

210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images

As fans of homes by Group Architects, Grace and Jon Chapman-Smith dreamed of owning a modernist gem but doubted that would ever happen.

That was until they came across this 1970s two-storey timber and brick home in Golf Rd, which has elements favoured by Group Architects, a mid-20th century collaborative who were responding to the New Zealand environment and favoured timber homes with open plan living.

With its clean, elegant lines and features such as thoughtfully placed windows, the home looks to have an architect's touch but Grace says they don't know who designed the home but the builder behind its construction quite often worked with architects.

When they bought the home six years ago they liked the fact that its integrity was still intact and it "hadn't been mucked around".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The couple knew that by working within the footprint of the home they could reinvigorate it with some minor alterations and some cosmetic touches.

As directors of design studio Fuman, the couple brought some impressive skills to the renovation, which has also been a showcase for their collection of art and objects.

"Any renovations we did were more in keeping with the style of the house; we tried to work with the house so that anything we did that was new felt like it had been there forever," says Grace.

"We were not following what was on-trend. For instance, putting in a white kitchen would have looked horrible."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And the kitchen was where they began, fitting it out with black benchtops and dark timber veneer cabinetry and creating a hatch through to the dining space for better flow.

From here you can either step down to the lounge or move out to the north-facing deck, through shoji screens and then aluminium sliders.

Here, the new deck follows the lines of the house, which provides shelter, and gives way to a lawn backdropped with succulent and tropical plants towards the roadside.

210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images

"Garden designer Xanthe White did a plan for the garden that we have slowly been chipping away at," says Grace. "We have been trying to get layers of growth into the garden."

Overlooking the back garden, the lounge has full-height windows that capture views to the south and east from the Golf Rd ridge. Clerestory windows also push light into this space, where the home's brickwork and timber detailing are on show.

Grace introduced a 1970s touch into the lounge in the form of blue carpet because it provided contrast with and helped to frame the greenery of the bush views.

210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images

Another retro feature is the cosy conversation pit tucked into one corner that has built-in seating and where the family watch TV. Here, the couple introduced a feature wall of banana leaf motif wallpaper.

Also on this level, to the west, is a bedroom with en suite on one side and an adjoining lounge on the other that opens to the deck.

On the southern side of the dining area a spiral staircase cocooned in a cylindrical brick stairwell takes you to the lower floor where there are three more bedrooms and two bathrooms, one a wet room-style en suite to the master bedroom.

210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
210 Golf Rd, Titirangi, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images

The couple's two daughters each have their own bedrooms on the western side of the house.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

These bedrooms open off a roomy foyer that could be used as a kids' lounge.

Off this space are the downstairs bathroom, and the laundry, which opens out to the back yard where Jon built a tree house for the kids.

Grace says there is still room for new owners to put their stamp on the home.

On the web link

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Property

Property

McDonald’s buys $8m landmark church to turn into restaurant

Property

Kiwi nurse sells his ‘last resort’ bach after dropping price to $78,000

Property

Couple saves riverside mansion that was ‘left to rot’


Sponsored

Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Property

McDonald’s buys $8m landmark church to turn into restaurant
Property

McDonald’s buys $8m landmark church to turn into restaurant

Maccas returns to Hamilton CBD after 30-year hiatus.

18 Jul 07:12 AM
Kiwi nurse sells his ‘last resort’ bach after dropping price to $78,000
Property

Kiwi nurse sells his ‘last resort’ bach after dropping price to $78,000

18 Jul 07:05 AM
Couple saves riverside mansion that was ‘left to rot’
Property

Couple saves riverside mansion that was ‘left to rot’

18 Jul 07:00 AM


Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?
Sponsored

Tired of missing out on getting to global summits to help grow your business?

14 Jul 04:48 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP