Beautiful Homes Whanganui: 1990s home designed to fit in with neighbouring properties

Mark Quirk and his family have lived in their St John's Hill home since it was built in 1992. Photo / Bevan Conley

Ray White Whanganui has partnered with the Whanganui Chronicle to find the city's most beautiful home.

Each day this week we will profile one of the six finalists of the Beautiful Homes Whanganui competition, with public voting now open.

Mark Quirk and his wife built their St John's Hill home in 1992, using solely Whanganui tradesmen.

"Steve Fox Builders did it, and they were here for about six months," Quirk said.

"It was a section from the house next door that was always just a big lawn. I bought that, we built in 1992, and we've been here ever since."

Quirk said he had wanted the design of the house to fit in with the rest of the homes on the street.

"Obviously, all the homes around here are of that older style and have probably been around since the 1940s or so.

"We needed to build something that could fit in with that. That's why we went with the stucco and the aluminium joining to look like the timber."

While the inside of the house has had a couple of do-overs through the years, the outside has remained exactly the same as when it was built.

"We've painted it three times, but other than that we haven't changed anything," Quirk said.

"I painted it the first time, but never again, even though it was relatively easy going. It was really just the height of it that got to me.

The house has been painted three times over the years, with a pre-summer "washdown" the only other maintenance needed. Photo / Bevan Conley

"You just have to look after it and, luckily, it's a very easy house to look after, what with the stucco, aluminium joinery and concrete tile roof.

"All you need is a good washdown before summer hits."

Quirk said there were many great memories from the almost 30 years in the house, and their first grandchild would soon be paying them a visit at Easter.

"We built it with our family in mind. Our oldest was 1 at the time, and our youngest was born in 1994.

"We've been lucky here because as my kids grew up there were so many other kids around this area. There was James Musa the footballer, the Bamber boys, and the cricketer Ben Smith.

"Those guys all played here, whether it was house tennis, where you whack the ball back and forth over the roof, or football in the backyard.

"They were known to drive the odd golf ball down the street as well."

Quirk said he had every intention of staying put in the house into the future.

Also in this series

Beautiful Homes Whanganui: Riverside setting has rural feel
Beautiful Homes Whanganui: 1910 Whanganui East villa gets modern twist
Beautiful Homes Whanganui: 1990s home designed to fit in with neighbouring properties
Beautiful Homes Whanganui: Property a 'custodial' honour for couple
Beautiful Homes Whanganui: Aramoho new-build inspired by Whanganui River
Beautiful Homes Whanganui: Levin couple find what they're looking for in Whanganui

"When I was a boy I used to deliver Evening Posts up here in this area at 6 o'clock at night, and I always thought 'this is the place to live'.

"It's close to everything and feels a bit like living in a park around here, with all the tree-lined streets.

"It's a great spot."