Grey Lynn: A surprise in store

Enjoy the sunsets from your home above this historic corner shop.

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker ... they've just about
all enjoyed a stint in the old Richmond Rd corner store at some time or
another.



For several years Rosie Lane has operated her business, Standard Thyme
Garden & Design, from these quirky character premises, a local
landmark in Grey Lynn. Her many predecessors have included a Count
Gorrie, according to the deed, who established the store in 1894.
Reproduction of the original handwritten deed is a bit blurred so the
first owner may have actually had the more prosaic post of accountant
Gorrie before being mistakenly elevated to Count. We'll never know.



Next came a lawyer named Mr Rutherford who had offices here until 1912.
The store became a butchery for a while and later switched to Bishop's
Grocery for a term from 1932. In the 1980s property developer Layne
Stephens renovated the building and opened it up to the sun to use as
his offices. Before Rosie chanced upon the vacant store as the ideal
place to display her growing crop of pretty standards and garden
accessories, it housed a hair salon.



By virtue of its Edwardian origins, it now stands out as a charming
oddity that lures curious customers for a peek, whether they are
intending to buy something or not. Squeezed onto the corner site next
door to a trendy eaterie, the shop has given Rosie plenty of indoor and
outdoor space and the profile her business needed with heaps of easy
parking nearby.



An added bonus is that it provides her with a convenient place to live.
It would come as a surprise to many to learn that when they pass
through the little room to the leafy, secret garden courtyard behind,
they are actually walking through Rosie's kitchen. Dashing from the
little wooden counter, she could stir something on the stove and be
back to serve at the counter within seconds.



"I pull the screen across and can be cooking for a dinner party while customers wander through," she says.



Her office is an even bigger secret. Rosie calls it "the smallest
office in the world", as it's hidden behind the counter in a narrow
cupboard disguised by bifold doors. When Rosie wants to do her office
work, she simply swivels her chair to face the opposite direction. From
this perch, she can see just about everything going on in the store. At
the same time, she can soak up the sunshine that pours in through big,
west-facing windows all afternoon.



Standing at the back of the shop, the view is quite exceptional. As
well as those meandering down the road, Rosie can see - between the
houses across the road - the sparkling shimmer of the harbour. And when
she climbs the narrow stairs to her lounge, the outlook is even better
with a glorious panorama reaching over neighbouring rooftops to the
Waitakere Ranges.



More because of its shape than its size, the room has a ship-like feel.
Timber floors and walls are painted white, which give a fresh,
contemporary character as a backdrop to the more colourful furniture.
"At the end of the day, it's so pretty," says Rosie, "and the sunsets
are drop-dead gorgeous."



Another small sitting room at the top of the stairs gives an
alternative living area or study. When she shuts the door on the
business downstairs, Rosie comes up here to relax and escape. "It's so
homely," she remarks.



Though tiny, the bedroom comes with an en suite and an unexpected view of the city skyline.



When friends and family come to stay, they're invited to hunker down in
the garage, which is used as another display space most of the time.



Fortunately, it doesn't look at all like a garage anymore. Rosie had a
clever relative disguise its humble origins under candy stripes
interlaced with big lilies so it looks more like a garden pavilion. She
painted the concrete floor roughly with a broom to resemble the surface
of the courtyard outside. Beneath a glorious canopy of gleditsias, this
courtyard living area shelters in dappled light. Many of Rosie's bigger
pots, plants and furniture are displayed here and it makes a superb
environment for alfresco entertaining.



Rosie has loved working and living here in a place her friends call
'The Ship'. She's watched the area evolve. "The whole community has
grown in the last few years. It's become very interesting and strong."



With her son moving north, Rosie is following in his footsteps to establish a new garden business and home in Matakana.


VITAL STATISTICS:



ADDRESS: 139 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn.



FEATURES: Turn-of-the-century corner store with accommodation above;
one bedroom with en suite and study; Skyline garage; courtyard garden.



SIZE: 1/4 share of 836sq m; floor area (measurements approximate) -
shop front 35sq m, showroom in garden 40sq m, apartment 80sq m.



AUCTION: February 23 at Bayleys Maritime Square auction rooms. Interest is above $500,000.



AGENTS: Tim Collins Smith and Dinah Macky, Bayleys. Ph 309 6020 bus; Tim 021 909 149 mob; Dinah 021 935 466 mob.