Waitemata Harbour Views: Levels of enjoyment

6 Kohu Road, Titirangi.

An innovative brick home offers great bush views and room for the family to spread out.

Henk and Sabine Berkman left Holland 13 years ago to embrace the New Zealand lifestyle, but haven't totally divorced themselves from their homeland.

Sabine runs a Dutch language school on the ground floor of their five-level brick home in a room the previous owners had used as a home theatre. She teaches 17 children here one afternoon a week as well as doing other lessons in Titirangi and Albany. The classes are funded by the Dutch government which is worried about the language dying out.

Because of the sound insulation provided by its construction - double brick walls with concrete between and concrete floors - those upstairs on the next four levels are blissfully unaware of the school when it's in.

The hillside home, which is about 40 years old, may be solid but it's certainly no plain brick box. It has strong, modern lines and even the chimneys become design elements in a home that is full of light courtesy of the large windows on every level.

A central staircase connects the five levels that fan off it in half-storey stages.

From the ground floor, with rumpus room and carport, you move up to the second level, which has a bedroom, office and bathroom, then on to the third level which has all the living areas. Here, the lounge has a large window seat jutting out over the carport with views to the north.

The lounge opens out to the deck that can also be accessed from the kitchen and dining room. The dining/kitchen space is open to a family room with a woodburner.

At the back of the kitchen is a large pantry with "secret stairs" that take you up to the laundry on level four.

On this level are the bedrooms, another bathroom and a small rear deck. Up the last flight of stairs is an office with a light shaft down to level three that Sabine says is very handy for keeping an eye on the kids in the living areas while you're working.

This level opens out to a wide-open rooftop deck with glorious views across the treetops to the Waitemata Harbour.

The Berkmans have made some changes to the house in their 12 years as owners but Henk says the design of the house, which would have been quite radical in the 60s, has stood the test of time.

"Whoever designed it did a really good job in terms of liveability and insulation, as well as sound insulation," says Henk.

The Berkmans think the home, which is a short stroll from Titirangi Village, was built by someone who owned a brick-making business and was a sort of show home for what could be achieved with the material.

Since Henk's work as a professor has taken him to Massey University's Albany campus, travelling from the west is too onerous and so the couple have bought a 2.2ha property near Okura, north of Long Bay.

"It's one of those houses that you feel sorry to leave. The kids [Sanne, aged 9, and Tommie, 7] were born here," says Henk.

The Berkmans may be leaving and Dutch students losing a classroom, but Sabine will continue teaching her classes elsewhere.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 5

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: 1308sq m, house 318sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Most of the larger properties in the area are selling for between $750,000 and $850,000. Auction March 8.

INSPECT: Sun 11-11.40am.

CONTACT: Karen Maxwell, ph 027 446 8406, or Rick Lasch, ph 029 200 8365, Barfoot & Thompson Titirangi, ph 816 8838 bus.

FEATURES: Stylish, light-filled home of double brick construction over five levels on bushclad section. Sunny, north-facing position with views across Auckland and the harbour. Wood burner and gas heating.