Herne Bay: Doing the hard yards

Photo / Geoff Dale

All Black Ali Williams and his mum Helen teamed up to take on a huge renovation project.

38 Wharf Road, Herne Bay.

Ali Williams is big and he is funny. The All Black and Auckland Blues lock, who stands at just over 2m tall, jokes he might have been a movie star if he didn't play rugby. He does seem a bit more serious when he says that he might have wanted to pursue a career "along the building or tradesman line" if he wasn't a professional sportsman.

It's not just talk, because Ali, who turns 24 today, and his mother Helen Williams have put the hard yards into the renovation of their spacious four-bedroom home in a quiet Herne Bay cul-de-sac. Although they've owned it for two years, Helen and Ali, with the help of Ali's 22-year-old brother Jay, really got stuck into the transformation before Christmas. Helen describes how the house used to be a "typical '40s poky brick house, with an '80s pop-top", while in Ali's opinion it was something more similar to the proverbial brick outhouse.

The light and airy home now has a smart new kitchen extension and an easy flow from an open-plan living area to a terrace at the front and a tiled deck at the back. Reminiscent of French style, the exterior is rendered with an elegant natural plaster finish, while the interior scheme features soft white and grey tones.

Helen, who's an English-trained designer, project-managed the refurbishment, while Ali says he did the donkey work.

"Me and the shovel have become one," he muses. Ali did learn a lot from working alongside builder Colin Edmonds.

"Colin is a 65-year-old, real dynamo builder. He worked on the extension with us and it was great fun," Helen says. She recounts how Colin had two favourite sayings. When Ali asked him a question he'd reply: "If I tell you, then you'll know as much as me," and to Helen he'd say: "She'll be right, girl."

It was a big project: the Williams family added a new garage and home office to the basement and created access with a concrete driveway to replace an old carport. They connected gas, put the electricity underground and separated the waste water.

Bearing in mind the scope of the job and the fact it was two strapping lads taking instructions from their mum, you'd think there might have been trouble, but there wasn't.

"Ali has a great temperament and he is a very hard worker. He asks questions if he doesn't know how to do something and he actually listens," Helen says.

At 898sq m, the section is large but it was overgrown with bamboo and other unwanted plants. Although Ali admits to being no "nature-botherer", he says he spent hours clearing away the foliage on the section that slopes down to Coxs Stream.

Since then, the garden has been professionally retained and features magnificent eucalyptus trees and a grove of kentia palms. The rich soil is ready for further planting. What does remain is an old, rustic corrugated iron shed, which Helen and Ali say previous owners used as a turkey coop.

The coop is not out of place, considering the house has the novelty of enjoying views of a small farm, known as Bouchier's farm, on the other side of the stream. Grazing heifers are a soothing sight from the spacious upstairs bedrooms, and the view is made even more unusual with the Sky Tower part of the vista.

Helen and Ali love the home's location. It is close to the cafes and shops on Jervois Road, very near Coxs Bay Reserve and only a five-minute walk through the park to the Woolworths supermarket on Richmond Road. "Or a three-minute light canter," Ali says.

What also makes the house special is the neighbourhood.

"Peter next door has helped with the vegetable garden here and even brought Ali some watermelon when he was working outside on a hot day," Helen says.

Helen and Ali may very well renovate together again, but Ali says he hopes it won't be on such a big scale. After all, he does have some rugby to play, too.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 898sq m, house approx 200sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Upwards of $950,000.

INSPECT: Open home Sat/Sun 11.30am-12.30pm.

CONTACT: Susan Flint-Hartle, Sayers, ph 0274 949 744.

FEATURES: Large section, home office, peaceful rural views (even the garage has one), quiet, no-exit street, decks, gas heating, full refurbishment by All Black labour.