Takapuna: Back to the future

As well as being a design icon, the first Group Architects home makes the perfect family retreat.

Step through the doors of number 20 Northboro Rd in Takapuna and you feel embraced. There's a warm, modern, open-plan living space and the kitchen spills out to the family and dining spaces. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors open to decks, merging the indoors and out, and high windows draw light deep into the internal spaces.

It appears to be a typical 21st century New Zealand house, built for the way we live today. However, this house is an architectural icon, revered by designers and artists since it was built by the much talked about Group Construction (sometimes called Group Architects) in 1950. The design was forward-thinking in its day - conventional houses of the time featured English-style, small windows and separate rooms. Today, we take its features for granted.

When the current owners first saw the house (known by architectural historians as the First House), they drove on by, thinking it too small and shed-like for their growing family of two active boys and a baby girl. However, the father of the family had attended lectures at architectural school about the building and liked the philosophy - simple, open plan and drawing natural light and ventilation into the building.

"I remember lecturer Claude Megson [at the University of Auckland's school of architecture and a member of the group] talking about things like site orientation to the sun, ventilation, functionality and the flow of a house," he says. "It's neat that those ideas really matter now and they were so on to it then."

Adds his wife: "When we finally came and sat inside, we knew we were home. The central room was the heart of the home - just a lovely, lovely space."

The family set to restoring what they knew to be an important piece of architectural history. Working closely with heritage architects, they seamlessly added a second formal living room and bedroom, and later a rumpus room and double garage.

Head and heart worked together. Necessary improvements included completely insulating every wall and the roof so that the children didn't see their breath inside on winter mornings. The owners waited six months with no floors in the addition until an exact matching matai was found. The ceiling sarking, beams and door handles were also scrupulously matched. The vintage wood stove was updated for gas, which now creates a cosy lodge feel in winter.

Earlier owners had carved two smaller bedrooms into a master bedroom, closets and en suite, which these owners have modernised with fresh tiles, a vanity and luxury plumbing. The second family bathroom and toilet have also been refurbished. A generous laundry was added when the rumpus room and garage were built.

The final piece of the refurbishment was done this spring, when a new Fyfe kitchen was installed to replace the 1980s number. The owners insisted that the designers respect the vintage of the house, using stainless-steel countertops and soft colours, even sourcing handles with a 1950s feel. Natural granite and timber veneers on the bar face complement the natural wood and copper used by the original architects elsewhere in the house.

Further modern luxuries - the owner loves to cook - include a gas hob, electric oven, in-bench ventilation (so as not to spoil the lines of the room) and two working areas so that a crowd can (and do) cook together. A well-lit pantry, converted from a porch in the 1980s, stores masses of food and hides preparation mess. The final project was a meticulous repaint of the rough-sawn cedar and kauri exterior.

Smart design means no wasted space. The original wide corridor, now a picture gallery, was used as a playroom connecting bedrooms and family room when the children were little. The original built-in storage houses games, books and more. Modern colours, to suit a family of teens, zing against the old plywood walls of the core of the house.

French doors (carefully matched to the originals) open the family room and formal living to decks, where pergolas and a shade sail shelter an outdoor dining courtyard and decks spill onto the huge back lawn.

"That lawn was what really won us, it was huge and perfect for growing kids," say the owners. "The hours we've spent tumbling out there playing cricket and football."

The garden has a rose arbour stepping up to a terraced room, which frames fruit and olive trees. There is still plenty of space for the kids' now outgrown trampoline and swing.

The rumpus room (which, already wired and with its own entrance, could be used as a home office) is sheltered by a further courtyard. In the backyard, the original creosote shed - which once held a kiln and pottery - is begging to be converted back to an artist's retreat.

This corner of Takapuna has easy access to schools, cafes, shops and beaches, and is only eight minutes from Devonport. The shuttle for the Bayswater ferry runs past the driveway, making access to the city a cinch.

With the children now in their teens, the family is moving to Coatesville where there is space to keep horses.

"This has been a special house for our children to grow up in," say the owners. "We feel like we're handing this heritage and spirit on to the next owners."

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: 20 Northboro Rd, Takapuna.

FEATURES: Meticulously renovated 1950s Group Architects home; four bedrooms; two bathrooms; new designer kitchen; two living areas; rumpus room; double garage; decks and flat family-size section; walking distance to Takapuna and on shuttle route to Bayswater ferry. Category B heritage classification under North Shore City Council district plan.

SIZE: Land area 1272sq m; floor area 235sq m.

TENDER CLOSES: March 9. CV $520,000.

AGENTS: Ron and Sherryl Sadler, Barfoot & Thompson, Takapuna. Ph 489 5084 bus; 021 613 546 mob.