Mt Albert: Staying power

A gem from yesteryear, this vast family home has proved itself as one of a kind. By VICKI HOLDER.

This romantic, early New Zealand estate in Mt Albert - which is full of whimsical vintage character - has managed to stay untouched by the city that has grown up all around.

Clevelands was once the home and surgery of the well-known and popular Dr Harper. The property has been cherished by the same family since 1939. It's now one of the last surviving properties of its kind to exist within a stone's throw of the city.

Built in 1900, the grand, single-storey, white, weatherboard villa hides from the road, surrounded by pretty English gardens dotted with majestic old trees, including many fruiting varieties. The sweeping lawns, an expansive playground for children over the years, offer ample room for a tennis court and swimming pool.

Entry is along a circular driveway that swings through secure, automatic gates. Swirling black wrought-iron balustrades march across the verandas, adding an elaborate French flavour to the home's imposing exterior. Inside, it evokes the sumptuous grandeur of an elegant old European home.

Many walls are panelled to highlight their beautiful proportions and tall ceilings. The rooms are enhanced by exquisite hand-crafted detailing. An ornate plastered archway in the enormous front foyer marks the division between the public and private arena. In the early days, visitors were drawn diagonally across the entry foyer to warm themselves before a marble fireplace, one of six still found in this home.

The addition of central under-floor heating has meant the fireplaces are seldom used, except for the one converted to gas in the library/study.

Painted French blue, the master bedroom off the foyer was once the front parlour. Looking out to the garden through a magnificent bay window, it features gilded wall panels for a touch of feminine glamour.

Two such panels disguise the his-and-hers wardrobes on either side of the bed. A deep, plastered cornice runs along one wall above openings to a small, private dressing room and a sunny sitting nook.

The flamboyant plasterwork on the ceiling of the lounge is breathtaking. The size of a ballroom, this area accommodates large-scale entertaining. It's not surprising that it has hosted many parties in its time. It still has a splendid vintage ambience with the original scrim wallpaper intact. It lends a kind of faded glory that the owners are reluctant to replace with a more pristine wall covering. Sun pours into the room from the afternoon to the early evening through sash windows with small colourful leadlights above.

Renovations in the 1940s/50s saw a magnificent Art Deco-style fire surround added to the marble fireplace in the separate dining room next door.

Although the home is 102 years old it incorporates a good flow between the inside and out. The lounge, dining room and many other rooms open through french doors to sunny verandas all around the exterior. The book-lined library/study opposite the lounge opens to a veranda, which would make a perfect spot to sit and watch the tennis, should the new owner choose to build a court on the adjacent lawn.

There are four bedrooms in the house, including one that Dr Harper used as his patients' waiting room. The bathroom was recently updated in a style sympathetic to the rest of the house. It sports a stylish period pedestal-style basin with period tapware.

An element of modernisation has kept the home up to date. A security system was added and a huge, practical, white kitchen installed in the mid-1980s. Its modern appliances and ample storage equip the house well for entertaining. The kitchen adjoins a sizeable laundry-cum-storage area, as well as the internal access to the large garaging.

With its many remarkable features, this property offers the ageless appeal of classic beauty and quality.

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: Clevelands, 1062 New North Road, Mt Albert.

FEATURES: Large, early New Zealand estate and character weatherboard villa built in 1900; many original features including kauri floorboards, ornate hand-crafted palster ceilings, six fireplaces and servants' bells; return verandas; surrounded by gardens; four bedrooms; huge lounge; separate dining; modernised kitchen; large laundry; internal access garaging; security system and electronic gates; sweeping driveway.

SIZE: Land area 3978sq m.

AUCTION: 7pm February 19, at 6 Mt Albert Road (Ray White Auction Cetnre).

AGENT: Anne Duncan, Ray White Goodwin Realty. Ph 846 9184 bus; 846 2010 ah; 025 996 426 mob.