Grey Lynn: Added Value

9 Browning Street, Grey Lynn

Tom's tips for building a cottage/studio

When Tom Wolf realised that family life was going to be impossible while their house was gutted he decided to build a cottage at the back of the property.

With the help of a builder, Austrian-born Tom had begun a huge renovation job on the four-bedroom kauri villa he and wife Lisa bought in 1997. But he recognised that he and Lisa, who had one child and one on the way, couldn't keep staying with relatives and friends while work was in progress.

"When I saw how long it was going to take me, we decided to build the cottage. It was always the idea to do that at some stage but we originally thought we would do it later."

Tom, who did a double apprenticeship as a toolmaker and technical draughtsman, drew up and submitted plans for the two-storey cottage.

"They went through the council no problems, except there was all this red pen where I had made spelling mistakes," says Tom, aged 40, who recently helped construct the new TV3 studio sets.

Four months later, the self-contained, two-storey weatherboard cottage was complete and Tom had managed to work into it a rimu staircase he'd picked up from a demolition yard.

The downstairs has a wrap-around verandah - with a private sitting area at the rear - and features a tiled floor in the kitchen, bathroom and living area. Upstairs is a large, carpeted bedroom.

Once they had moved into the 60sq m cottage, which cost about $45,000 in materials, Tom could focus his energies on the house. Circa 1912, Tom describes it as "almost unliveable" when they moved in, even though they had paid $290,000 for it.

"There were plants growing through a hole in the floor underneath the clawfoot bath. A wall was missing so one of the ceilings sagged half a metre, and part of the house sagged half a metre because of the piles."

It was a daunting prospect but Tom was no stranger to renovation projects, having refurbished a 21m, 50-year-old wooden ketch that he and Lisa bought and chartered mainly out of Elba, Italy, before they sold up and moved to New Zealand. As a hobby, he buys and revamps classic cars and motorbikes.

"For one-and-a-half years I just worked on the house."

With his background in precision work and his meticulous Austrian ways he has transformed the house, insulating and draught-proofing it from top to bottom.

He put in two new fireplaces, used 1200m of draughtproofing strips between the polished matai floorboards and spent an average of two-and-a-half weeks on each of the double-hung sash windows. They have been stripped, sanded, polished, realigned and draught-proofed - and are probably the only sash windows in Auckland that sigh as you open them.

He has also added a deck, installed a rainwater tank (for toilet and garden) and backed the new English country-style rimu kitchen cupboards with H5 marine ply so "they are never going to rot".

Oh, and the house has new piles, wiring, plumbing and sewerage lines, as well as a structurally sound floor in the attic.

"I would often work 18-hour days. I'd be going until three or four in the morning then I would have four or five hours sleep and start all over again."

Family circumstances have forced the sale of the property but it's no surprise when Tom says the next house he buys must have a workshop.

Vital Statistics

SIZE (APPROX): Land 491sq m, house 150sq m, cottage 60sq m

PRICE INDICATOR: $700,000-$1 million. Auction May 18.

INSPECT: Open homes Sat/Sun 1pm-1.45pm.

CONTACT: Derek Foden, ph 376 3039, mob 0274 458 907; Andre Bodde, ph 376 8793, mob 021 662 873, Barfoot & Thompson, Ponsonby.

FEATURES: Painstaking renovation results in a rarity: draught-free and fully insulated four-bedroom kauri villa, which has been repiled, replumbed and rewired. Deck and flat lawn at rear. Off-street parking. Self-contained two-storey cottage with views to Herne Bay.