Ponsonby: Added Value

5 Tole Street, Ponsonby.

When it came to bringing back souvenirs from a trip around Italy and Spain, Cameron Ireland and Rachael Newnham went a step further than miniature models of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and flamenco dancer dolls.

They managed to stash a hand basin from Spain in their hand luggage.

"The basin was perfect for our main bathroom," says Cameron. "It wasn't too big and being a man-made material it wasn't too heavy. We decided that Spain had better ideas for bathrooms and Italy was better for kitchens, and went from there."

Along with the basin, the couple returned with a heap of European inspiration for their double bay villa in Tole Street, Ponsonby, which they bought in May last year with a view to renovating and selling on.

Cameron, a carpenter, is used to renovation projects. The couple and their 2-year-old son, Jack, were living in the property throughout the rebuilding work, and three months ago baby Elliot joined the family.

The house, which Cameron describes as a real 90s do-up, "all blue and yellow", when he bought it, has had a couple of revamps in its time. He thinks the second storey was added in the 1980s. "But all the proportions were wrong," he says. "One of the two lounges, the main one, was far too small, so we had to reconfigure the living spaces to make better use of the area.

"Moving walls, adding walls, removing the back-to-back fireplaces - it all had to be done. We also had to sort out the garden because it was sloping, so we ended up removing about 60 truckloads of dirt."

Cameron and Rachael wanted to retain the traditional elements , such as the matai floorboards, which they stained black, and the ornate pressed tin ceilings with decorative centrepieces.

But they also wanted to make a statement with their contemporary features, and draw a definite line between the old and the new.

The original front door, with lovely green, gold and pink glass panels, opens to the wide hallway and the old part of the home, with a bedroom off to either side in the traditional fashion.

Further along the hall, the main bathroom sports the hand basin carried all the way from Spain.

Opposite this is another bedroom.

The hallway then opens up to the vast, remodelled, contemporary living, dining and kitchen area, complete with glass balustrades, polished concrete floors and double-height ceilings. The dining space steps down to a garden terrace, while stylish cantilevered stairs - made of laminated white oak ply - head down to one of the two lounges.

This living space has two walls of sliding glass doors, which open to a second garden terrace and a heated lap pool that Cameron put in.

Back upstairs, the simple, clean-lined kitchen sits beside the other lounge. It includes a built-in Miele coffee machine, soft-closing white oak cupboards and drawers and a pull-out pantry.

The second storey houses an office, the master bedroom and its en suite. The smart white and dark brown basin and biscuit-coloured wall tiles in here are more ideas from Italy, but these were not stashed in the hand luggage.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 417sq m, house 270sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Owner paid $920,000 for property prior to renovation in May 2005. Auction February 23.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2.45-3.30pm.

CONTACT: Heather Lanting or Marty Hall, Ray White Ponsonby, ph 376 2186 bus, Heather 0274 394 124 mob, Marty 0274 500 168 mob.

FEATURES: Renovated double bay villa combining traditional style and contemporary living. Smart European lighting and bathroom fixtures, black-stained matai floorboards. Heated lap pool.