Epsom - Worth the wait

A family who jumped at the chance to buy a much-admired home had to wait months before they could move in.

27 Gardner Road, Epsom.

Kim Tracey knows anticipation can be exhilarating, but it can also be excruciating.

She rolls her eyes as she recalls the lengthy prelude to her family moving into their two-storey character home eight years ago.

The Traceys had taken possession of their gracious 1920s home cornering two quiet streets near Cornwall Park.

However, they left it achingly empty while they marketed their existing home, figuring that was more saleable with them and their furniture in it.

``People used to knock on our door offering to buy our house. Then they'd explain they meant the one on the corner of Gardner and Crescent Road, which they understood we'd recently bought straight after its first open home,'' she grimaces.

They had moved quickly to buy the Gardner Road property as Karen had been besotted with it for years, since spotting it when walking towards Cornwall Park.

``I thought it looked like an English gentleman's residence.'' As the wait to move stretched into months, Kim fuelled her expectations of life in the new home with frequent visits.

``I used to come round here every day and `play house','' she admits. ``I'd bring the jug and have a coffee, sitting on the floor, planning which furniture would go where''.

When the couple and their two children finally settled in to their new home, they were delighted to find it exceeded even their heightened expectations.

They were smitten with its blend of character, functional living and classical decor, which had been conceived by a previous owner's interior designer and suited Kim's taste in English country furniture perfectly.

Previous inhabitants include several doctors and Kim understands some used to also see patients in the home.

The home is mainly weatherboards which are complemented with wooden shingles and a brick base and topped with a steel roof.

The Traceys had a separate double garage built in a sympathetic style and this has internal and external access to a loft room above, which has an adjacent bathroom and its own deck.

``It's great for teenagers if you don't want them keeping you awake when they have their friends over,'' Kim explains.

There is plenty of entertaining space in the sun-blessed main house, too, with a sitting room and a formal dining room next to a more relaxed space containing the kitchen, informal dining and lounge.

Upstairs a spacious master bedroom with en suite, two other bedrooms and a bathroom with claw foot bath are all light and airy.

Some look out over the solar-heated pool, which can be lit at night, while others enjoy views over the spacious front yard and its much-admired garden.

``It's a great, sunny house to relax in and around, especially by the pool, and it's a fantastic home for entertaining and parties. But the children are growing older and spreading their wings and it seems sad that some rooms hardly get used any more.

It deserves a new family,'' she says, with a wave towards the tyre-swing hanging from one of the front garden's impressive trees.

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 3

GARAGES: 3

SIZE: Land 832sqm, house 300sqm (approx) including studio above separate double garage.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $1.57 million. Auction September 23.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun/Wed 1.30-2.15pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz # 346783

CONTACT: Robyn Preece, Barfoot & Thompson Mt Eden, ph 021 936 080, 638 9158 bus, 623 4439 a/h.

FEATURES: Elegant, traditional family home with multiple living areas flowing to private northwestern decks by solar-heated in-ground pool. Compatibly-styled separate double garage with decked loft above. Spacious corner site near Cornwall Park with structured gardens.