Grey Lynn: Improving with time

Banishing the urge to rush into renovations has paid off for a Grey Lynn couple, writes Graham Hepburn.

14 Harcourt Street, Grey Lynn.

The day that Victoria Porter and Jon Andrews moved into their Grey Lynn home they were tempted to start renovating straight away.

Jon says when they bought the kauri villa five and a half years ago it was pretty rundown. Some of the rooms had soft board on the walls, the internal doors had been painted, there was carpet over the kauri floorboards, and the rear of the house, containing the kitchen and bathroom was a real mess.

Victoria says they calmed down when they received that time-honoured advice from her architect father to live in the house for a while before doing anything.

"We moved here because we were getting a bit claustrophobic in our townhouse in Scanlan Street and we wanted to do the villa thing," Victoria says.

"It was the first home we looked at and despite it being a bit of a mess we could see the potential."

So after six months, the couple flew John Porter out from his Los Angeles home to help them with their plans.

Victoria says, "He stayed with us for two weeks and spent his time watching the way the sun moved around the house and watching how we used the place. He was considering things like whether we needed a formal living room."

John says the renovation took twice as long as expected - 16 weeks as opposed to the promised eight - but "even though it took longer I'm glad that we spent that time. The builder was great because he really wanted to engage us in the project".

The result is a renovation that has extended and opened up the rear of the house so that it flows out to the deck and the back lawn, where their two daughters Luca, aged 2 , and Clover, 15 months, love to play.

The couple now has a large kitchen adjoining the light-filled dining and living areas. They cleverly took the original fourth bedroom in the house and divided it in half to provide the main bathroom and an en suite in vibrant green tiles for the master bedroom. Both bathrooms are filled with natural light courtesy of skylights.

Victoria says one of her favourite spots is the sun bed in the living room, which has a sliding window opening out on to the deck so she can "check that Jon's not burning anything on the barbie".

At the back of their section is a self-contained studio, which Victoria says used to be the garage for a Model T Ford belonging to one of the previous owners.

A subsequent owner lined it and added a kitchenette and bathroom.

Victoria has used it as an office in the past, but lately it's been accommodation for Jon's family when they visit from England.

Jon says the section hasn't required too much landscaping, apart from some planting for screening and to add some structure to the garden.

Jon and Victoria are now looking for a larger home, hopefully in Mt Eden.

"Unfortunately we've outgrown our place," says Victoria. "Number two [Clover] came along a lot sooner than we expected."

Victoria says putting their house on the market has thrown their friends into a tizz, worried that they are going to miss out on "Super Sundays", a leisurely gathering which starts off at a local cafe before heading back to Jon and Victoria's house via the supermarket to crank up the barbie, have some drinks and chill out on their deck.

Victoria says, "We've reassured them that wherever we move to, we're going to keep on doing our Super Sundays."

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 471sq m, house 140sq m.

PRICE: $800,000-plus buyers. Auction September 7.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 3-3.45pm.

CONTACT: Karen Spires, Bayleys, ph 309 6020 bus, 027 273 8220 mob, or

Geoffrey McRae 021 946 610 mob.

FEATURES: Warm, contemporary home with spacious, light-filled living plus a garden studio for extra accommodation, office or potential income.