SCHOOL ZONES:
Albany primary, senior and junior highs.
CONTACT:
Ailsa McArthur, Bayleys, 0272 984 000.
*off street parking
Sue McGregor is not a woman who is daunted by a challenge. She and husband Neil McGregor are serial renovators in and around the Albany and Greenhithe areas, but this latest house -- bought five years ago -- would have turned most people away.
Her "before" photos of the house-- remnants of an original late 19th-century kauri villa, with a mass of ramshackle lean-tos added on, a renter with wind blowing up through the bathroom floor -- would have put most people off. Even the real estate agent was stunned at their quick decision to buy and restore the building.
"When we bought it, in an instant, we knew it would be a good buy. But then we discovered the stories. After we'd bought, Neil's dad said 'oh, an old aunty used to live on that road' and then recognised it as the one she'd gotten as a wedding present 60 years ago. How crazy is that?
"Then neighbours knocked on the door to tell us more. Paul and Audrey Matthews owned the strawberry fields, everyone used to come here, people know the little shed at the front that they used to sell strawberries in the summer."
Doing up that wee shed to retain the house's historical links was one of the easier jobs on the renovation list: lined and clad it is now a sweet little gym and rumpus room.
The rest of the re-build was a somewhat bigger job. But Sue is remarkably sanguine about the process; "each year we knocked a lean-to off to build another living wing".
The first job was to win over their kids, teenagers Charlotte, Lachlan and Madelaine, who had been pulled away from a perfectly lovely house and were singularly unimpressed with their parents' enthusiasm for the "potential" of the place.
In went a swimming pool, complete with outdoor sitting room and fireplace -- plus the "sell" that the house, despite its country outlook, is a mere five minutes from the teen-haven of Albany mall and shops (even less to the older village or Massey University).
Then it was Neil and Sue's turn, as the first lean-to was demolished and the master wing installed. There were enough remnants of the old house -- skirtings, the odd corbel, window frames -- that the McGregors were able to match beautiful old details in the new wings.
"I spent a lot of time at Bungalow & Villa," says Sue.
The draughty rotten old bathroom was replaced with an indulgence of Victoriana, complete with English Perrin & Rowe tapware and pedestal basins, a re-surfaced iron bathtub and classic black and white tiles, opening off a walk-through wardrobe.
The huge master bedroom opens to the back lawn and views of hills and trees, not a house in sight. Engineer Neil and keen gardener Sue got stuck into the spreading estate -- turning the flattish lawn into a "knockabout" tennis court, trimming out trees to frame views, terracing with old railway sleepers and classic white gravel, then planting hundreds of roses.
Image 1 of 7: Herald Homes
44 Hobson Road, Albany.
25 May 2015 NZ Herald photo by Ted Baghurst.
Sue even got her brick rose arbour, Neil worked in a great sweep of concrete driveway and magnificent gates early on to mark their good intentions for the rest of the house.
The McGregors, with their architect Greg Jones and builder Trevor Willis of Premium Construction, added back more than the old farm house had ever had, to meet the brief to create a country estate out of an old farm house. So little windows were replaced by properly proportioned bays, the veranda that links the old wing with the new kids' bedroom wing was treated to period-appropriate gingerbread trims.
Sue sweated the details to make sure sash windows were the right proportions, new bi-folds and French doors complemented the period (they didn't have bi-folds in those days), every corbel and piece of door furniture stuck to period. Underneath, of course, was the best of modern insulation, electronics and heating.
Sue can point out the original footprint of the four-rooms-off-a-hallway, but even then they played with proportions: the hallway was widened (shaving a little off the fifth bedroom) to accommodate the leadlight front door (a recycling find), a former front parlour fitted with shelves to become the study/library entrance to the parents' wing.
The kids' wing is a teenagers' dream: each of them gets a large double bedroom with walk-in wardrobe, their bathroom is period meets groovy (helped by brilliant green mosaic tiles), and they share a huge media room opening to the back deck overlooking the pool.
Sue has tucked a generous laundry and back door down this end, a loo for the pool, so that the kids and friends can come and go and there is no noise disturbance.
The side driveway parks a mass of cars. There were plans to build a huge garage/workshop (and the site has been prepped) but instead the McGregors are moving on to another project -- a brand new build this time, as the kids are one by one flying the nest.
The final part of the build, completed only 18 months ago, is the kitchen living wing. Built like an American-style barn or great room, this space has made the two other sitting rooms redundant (apart from movie time in the dramatically dark-painted media room with projector and drop-down screen).
The padded window seat around the kitchen table gets the most use from breakfast through to evening, with its views across the pool to the surrounding fields, its proximity to the huge kitchen and scullery, the dining and sitting space.
The entire room has walls of glass that pull back in the summer to the decks, some covered, some open, the detailed joinery crafted by Johannes Erren Cabinetmakers.
A scullery takes on the role of a mini kitchen, the honed granite benches and butler's sink are way better than any original farm house could have boasted.
With only the garage to finish, new owners can proudly walk into this country estate and live the life created by Sue and Neil. Estate-making, the easy way.
