SCHOOL ZONES:
Bayfield Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Western Springs College, Auckland Girls' Grammar.
CONTACT:
Sue Hatton, Custom Residential, ph 027 279 9696.
FEATURES:
Knockout glamour with funky industrial heritage makes this three- to four-bedroom home a standout. In immaculate condition with entertainers' roof terrace and established subtropical garden behind high, sheltering walls.
A standout in a street of turn-of-the-century villas, Mark Lenihan and David Hickey's post-war concrete box stood out for them, too.
An ex-Auckland Electric Power Board sub-station, built in the art deco styling favoured by the AEPB at the time, it had largely resisted successive owners' attempts to reincarnate itas a residential building since the early 1990s. In silhouette at least, it remained defiantly true to its industrial roots.
By the time it was back on the market in 2003, it was masquerading as a Sante Fe hideaway, with orange walls and a rustic wooden interior. But despite this distracting overlay, David and Mark could not help but see the potential to create a contemporary home that incorporated the strengths of the original. Without hesitation, they bought it.
"We just couldn't wait to get started," remembers David. "It seemed so clear to us the way it could be turned into something sharp and strong that acknowledged its past while at the same time being a luxurious urban home."
Over the next three years, with limited time but undimmed enthusiasm, they embarked upon a thorough programme of upgrading and improvement. So comprehensive was this rehabilitation that eventually every surface, with the exception of the kitchen, was reworked in one way or another.
At the time of purchase, the design-winning kitchen was newly installed, and with its dark work surfaces and ply cupboards was in keeping with the building's past.
"Although the kitchen was wood," remarks Mark, "it didn't have the rustic air that the knotty pine that was everywhere had. It was great that we could let it stay because everything else, including the lawns, needed going over."
Eventually their hard work paid off and, as the knotty pine was banished, the strong bones that had refused to die emerged intact. The resulting space is, quite simply, beautiful.
The living space is largely double-height, apart from one side where it is bridged by a mezzanine walkway that provides the perfect viewing platform from which to admire the transformation.
A favourite area is a small, intimate seating zone where some of Mark's antique glass collection is displayed, but for snoozing on the sofa, a TV room is tucked away behind the kitchen and alongside it the new guest bedroom, beautiful bathroom and full-sized utility area.
The fourth bedroom, which Mark and David use as an office, lies at the front, and banks of glazed doors alongside it allow a seamless interaction with the garden that is Mark's pride and joy. Facing north behind high walls, this is so sheltered and private that it acts as another room. "We spend most of summer out here," he says. "It doesn't have views, but it's a suntrap. Just a different sort of living space."
The views are there, too. At time of purchase, Mark and David had been able to acquire a 3m strip of extra land at the rear of the section. Although not huge, this strip transformed the way the site could be used. In practical terms, it provided space for an extra bedroom and internal garaging, but most important of all, it allowed access to the roof.
"Before we built the extension, every time we climbed up here we would think, 'this is where we want to be'," David says. "Now it's so easy to come up with a gin and tonic, relax in the spa and watch the stars come out."
Now everything is done, and the couple confess to "the seven-year itch. We've learnt so much doing this that we're going to do it again."
