SCHOOL ZONES:
St Heliers Primary and
Glendowie College.
CONTACT:
Vanessa Mowlem, Bayleys, ph 021
840 700.
FEATURES:
Exquisite, traditional four- to five-
bedroom weatherboard family home with
excellent indoor-outdoor flow and
complemented by striking views.
Cecilia and Hugh Lambie hadn't meant to buy this home seven years ago, but deciding to just have a look was a mistake they are happy to have made.
Cecilia, who is from Sweden, was first smitten with the big old oak tree at the entranceway, which was probably plantedabout the time the homestead was built in the 1940s on what, back then, was a much bigger section.
"We weren't at all going to buy this house and my husband said, 'No, let's not go and look at it.' So we came, and, you know - it's just so lovely, it looks like a romantic little setting with the tree," says Cecilia.
The mother of three found herself falling even harder for the house after walking into the open dining/kitchen/living area with windows framing views of Rangitoto Island and two sets of French doors opening out on to a deck and the fenced yard. As she leads the way upstairs she says: "This is where it really got me, because this balcony is great." On this upper level, four spacious bedrooms run the length of the balcony, with its views of the harbour and Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the distance. Here, the family can sit on beanbags, read and relax and watch the action on the harbour, from the ferries heading out to Waiheke Island to the big cruise ships passing by.
When Cecilia and Hugh looked at the house, they were living in Parnell and had just one child, 19-month-old William, an energetic boy who they say needed more space. William is almost 8 now and has two sisters, Isabella, 5, and Olivia, 2. Olivia has the former master bedroom at one end of the upstairs hall; Cecilia and Hugh have the new master bedroom at the other, which was added on by previous owners. They particularly like the en-suite shower, with its window looking out on Rangitoto.
It is a big decision to sell because they have loved living here, but the family is moving to Sweden for a year to be close to Cecilia's parents.
"I speak Swedish to the kids and the children understand and speak a bit of Swedish but I just want to cement the Swedish in terms of getting them completely fluent and also to have them go to school for a year in Sweden," says Cecilia.
"So we're actually going to live in a small coastal town, it's more like a village, it's on the east coast so it's where Absolut Vodka is from."
Image 1 of 6: 209 St Heliers Bay Road, St Heliers. Photo / Getty Images
Downstairs also has a formal lounge on the other side of the dining area. The couple say that although the children have had the run of the house, this room is a toy-free space, though William reminds them they had a pretty good disco in here for his birthday.
At the other end of the dining, kitchen and living space is another bedroom which the couple has used as the nanny's quarters but which could be used as an office or guest room. Outside, sitting on the comfy outdoor couch at one end of the deck, Hugh says it is rare for a house in this price range to have such great views from both the ground floor and the upstairs.
Before they decided to move to Sweden, the family had considered putting a pool in the front yard, but that will be someone else's decision now.
