Mt Eden

Home to the Prime Minister Helen Clark, Mt Eden is one of Auckland's
premier suburbs. With wide, leafy streets and an abundance of freshly
renovated villas, it retains the old-world charm of early Auckland, yet
its central location provides quick and easy access to the bright
lights of the city or to motorways out of town.



Bordered by the city to the north, upmarket Epsom to the east and
up-and-coming Sandringham, Balmoral and Kingsland to the south and
west, Mt Eden has managed to retain its slightly off-beat, arty
reputation while increasingly becoming home to the moneyed elite.



Ian Gray of Barfoot & Thompson says because Mt Eden was one of the
earliest areas of the city to be settled, it has a maturity that some
suburbs have yet to attain. "It's got a nice ambience and a quaintness
about it," he says.



Most of the housing stock at the city end of Mt Eden is made up of
grand villas on big, reasonably flat sections with established gardens
and mature trees. As the far end of the suburb past Balmoral Rd was
settled later, the houses there are more likely to be large 1930s-style
Californian bungalows. Many sections throughout the area have been
subdivided to make way for infill housing in the form of townhouses and
there are also some blocks of units, particularly at the city end of
the suburb. Several vast recent apartment developments take up blocks
in a former industrial area near Mt Eden prison.



Many families who move to the area do so for the schools. Mt Eden
offers excellent primary schools and parts of the area are in-zone for
highly-regarded secondary schools Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls
Grammar.



The village centre on Mt Eden Rd has one of the best fish shops in
Auckland, as well as an excellent old-style butcher's shop and a good
greengrocer. It has delicatessens, several friendly neighbourhood cafes
and bars, and some excellent restaurants. A supermarket and strip
shopping development at nearby Dominion Rd fulfils most other retail
needs.



What makes Mt Eden special?



Grand homes, a village atmosphere and proximity to the city combine to
create one of the Auckland's most desirable suburbs. The volcanic cone
after which the suburb is named provides a treasured recreational
domain that is enjoyed by local residents and visitors alike.



Watch out for ...



Traffic through the area can be heavy at peak times as commuters use Mt
Eden Rd and Dominion Rd as thoroughfares to outer suburbs. And if you
don't have kids you might prefer to avoid the substantial premium asked
for grammar-zone properties.



Need to know



 Median 2004 house sale price: approximately $516,000



 Driving time to city: off-peak - 5-10 minutes, peak - 10-20 minutes