Redesigned to charm

75 Seaview Rd, Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images.

75 SEAVIEW RD, REMUERA

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SIZE: Land 579sq m, house, 283sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Above CV $2.95 million.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2-2.30pm

ON THE WEB: barfoot.co.nz/567489

SCHOOL ZONES: Victoria Avenue Primary School, Remuera Intermediate, double Grammar.

CONTACT: Lisa MacQueen, 021 221 8622, or Verena Lobb, 027 522 0773, Barfoot & Thompson

With its award-winning stainless steel kitchen and bathroom, this architecturally redesigned home had nothing left to prove to anyone when Christina and Warwick Wright arrived in 2007.

Rebuilt in 1998 on the original footprint of a 1960s weatherboard home, it had all the bedrooms, bathrooms, living areas and more than they needed for their four teenage-plus children.

It was also most likely one of the earliest homes in Auckland built of solid plaster on a cavity, as confirmed by architect Ken Crosson. He had not long returned from the United Kingdom at the time and, not liking what he was seeing of the "chilly bin" houses being built, he and his clients opted for the solid plaster option.

The day Christina opened the double-height panelled front doors to see original timber floors stained a rich dark hue by the previous owners she was delighted. "There's not one bit of carpet anywhere," she says of the timeless floors and contrasting white walls, which have proved their point to yet another set of owners here.

From Christina's perspective it was all perfect, until she and the furniture movers headed upstairs. She had spotted something she felt she could improve on. The double doors opening into the living area had to go. "The moment I saw them I decided 'That's clutter and I don't want clutter'." The furniture mover got out his screw driver and whipped the doors off their hinges. "It was all over in 30 minutes. Warwick never saw the doors up." Christina ordered new stainless steel door jambs and so began the first of several subtle additions using what became her material of choice. All was done and dusted within a few months.

Image 1 of 10: Visiting a house with little left to prove. Photos / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images

Christina and Warwick updated the tiled loggia and deck with new cap rails in stainless steel. Using the same material, they had their front door step and the two exterior steps that lead out to the central courtyard from the family bedrooms and the master bedroom finished to suit.

In the bathroom, Christina installed a strip of stainless steel around the back of the bath that adds the illusion of negative detailing. A vertical strip between the edge of the shuttered window and the stainless steel shower completed that room.

"They're just subtle touches but I think they make this adorable house even more beautiful," says Christina. Change for change's sake was never an option. Together with their appointed kitchen designer they chewed over and discarded several options for a new kitchen because they couldn't improve on this one. All they did was add the Carrara marble bench by the window, which is Warwick's favourite spot for breakfast. Within this original kitchen, the black reflective glass and stainless steel adds depth and glamour to the symmetry that is enhanced by the long view back from the deck.

This entire upper level of what Christina and Warwick call the east wing was built above what was originally a single-storey weatherboard house. The roadside west wing has remained a single storey with its two double bedrooms, one king-single bedroom and the bathroom. They open to the stairs that track through the atrium to the master bedroom, laundry, library and garage on the ground floor of the east side.

With its original metal European-profile roof, plaster exterior and shutters inside and out, this home reminds Warwick of some parts of Normandy in northern France. On the home front it has delivered nine years of expansive living for Christina and Warwick and their family.