Waiatarua: Added Value

436 SCENIC DRIVE, WAIATARUA.

Susie Jull and husband Matt were looking for somewhere with plenty of room. They had two boys and one more on the way.

And they needed somewhere that Matt could use as a home office for his business coaching work and with plenty of parking for clients.

"Matt saw this place first and got me to come and have a look," says Susie. "I just thought it would be a house right in the bush so I was quite surprised to see it had a lawn out the front and sun coming in.

"We moved from a house a few kilometres away, where we were in among the trees and got about two hours of sun a day."

But the Scenic Drive home they bought was looking rundown, even though it had been built as recently as the 80s.

"It looked like it hadn't been loved for a while," says Susie. "It had windows out that had been planked up. Apart from that it was just a bit dated and tired. We gave it a major facelift."

The couple repainted the interior and exterior of the house and replaced all the flooring. Out went the old carpet, cork flooring and some stinky old straw matting and in came tiles in the kitchen, dining room and conservatory, and new carpet everywhere else.

The interior - a dirty cream colour in what appeared to be one thin coat of paint - was repainted in a neutral palette. This complements the timber sarked ceilings and emphasises the sense of light and space afforded by the high stud and the many windows and French doors along the northern face of the house.

The entry to the three-storey home is on the middle level, which has an open plan kitchen/dining/living area. There's a tiled conservatory on the southern side of the house and a deck on the northwestern corner. The sleek kitchen, with its double sink, gas hob and vibrant red cabinetry and chrome handles, was installed just before the Julls bought the home.

Upstairs, the master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and en suite and a picture window with views of the upper Waitemata Harbour.

On the bottom floor are three bedrooms and another living room, all of which open out to a north-facing deck and a flat lawn.

"We don't have teenagers but I can imagine it would be an ideal house for that age group. You could have them and their music downstairs and you could retreat upstairs," says Susie .

Now that Matt's business has expanded and moved into premises in Henderson, the family has decided to move.


Vital Statistics:

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 3

GARAGE: 3+

SIZE: Land 3948sq m, house
230 sq m (approx).

PRICE: $659,000.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1.30-2.30pm.

CONTACT: Di Wright, Harveys Titirangi, ph 817 8011 bus, 021 998 994 mob.

FEATURES: Elevated, north-facing home updated for modern living.
Woodburner, gas cooking, plenty of offstreet parking.