Grey Lynn: A diamond in the rough

After more than a decade, a couple has completed a makeover of a half-renovated villa, writes Lucy Richmond.

8 Browning Street, Grey Lynn.

It took them 12 years, but they got there in the end.

You name it and Juanita and Mark Davis have done it to their Grey Lynn home to get it up to scratch. Knocking down walls, landscaping the back garden, putting in a new kitchen and installing gas heating.

"The place was pretty rough in the early days," says Mark. "The second storey had been added to the house but it wasn't finished properly. We've had to touch more or less everything to get it right."

One vital job on the list was to remove a wall between the kitchen and dining room to create an open-plan, L-shaped living-dining-kitchen area, which would eventually open to the garden.

This was when Mark and Juanita discovered a fireplace hidden behind the Gib board in the old dining room. They decided to put a gas fire there instead and install gas central heating.

With the all-in-one living space sorted, it was the kitchen's turn for a spruce-up. It has dark blue cabinetry, a granite benchtop and a breakfast bar with a jarrah top that curves around to enclose the space.

Other tasks downstairs included building cupboard space into the two bedrooms - one a guest room and the other the master - and remodelling the bathroom to incorporate a frameless glass shower and the laundry.

"We've put underfloor heating in both bathrooms, as well as heated mirrors, which are a great idea," says Juanita.

The garden needed some serious work. It sloped from left to right and had a large ti tree in the middle that dominated the space, so Mark levelled it out. Some railway sleepers, brick paths, expansive decks and a neat lawn were used to transform the north-west-facing section into a great family back yard.

"There's a lovely big oak tree in one corner which provides lots of shade in summer," says Mark.

An extension was added in the late 80s but it hadn't been properly finished. "It wasn't painted and hadn't been carpeted, and the bathroom was a mess," says Mark.

These days, this is where Mark and Juanita's daughters, five-year-old Katya and two-year-old Sophia, hang out, but it could be used as the master bedroom and an office, or as a second living area.

The home's elevated position makes the city views from up here great, both from the dinky balconies off the bedrooms and through a large skylight in the hallway. Another hidden bonus is the extra storage in the roof space, which is accessed through small trapdoors in the two bedrooms.

When it comes to wall colours, carpets and drapes, the Davises have stuck with neutral tones so as not to detract from the home's original features. These include matai floors, battened ceilings with plaster centrepieces, timber wall panelling and sash windows.

After all their years of hard graft, Mark and Juanita have far from been put off the renovation game. They've decided to do it all over again with a do-up in Westmere. But, says Juanita, it's going to be hard to sell Browning Street.

"This is our first family home, which is one of the hardest things about leaving," she says, "and we love the area, which is why we're not going far."

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 491sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected above $800,000. Auction Sept 14.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2-2.45pm.

CONTACT: Jan and Brian Parish, Barfoot & Thompson, ph 376 3039 bus, Jan 0274 924 858 mob, Brian 021 924 858 mob.

FEATURES: Fully renovated villa with open-plan living, gas central heating, under-floor heating in the bathrooms, city views from the upstairs bedrooms and large decks.