Doors swing open to top Auckland homes
A mansion belonging to one of New Zealand’s top art collectors is opening its doors to the public.
Newmarket home ‘‘Rannoch’’, the mansion home of Sir James Wallace, is one of eight homes in the upcoming 2017 NZ House & Garden House Tour.
The home, designed by architect James Lloyd and built around 1915, contains one of the more comprehensive private collections of New Zealand art.
Rannoch is seldom open to the public, but royalty, prime ministers, as well as opera and movie stars, have been guests in the mansion over the years. Wallace is chairman of the Waitoa-based Wallace Corporation and is the owner of an art collection featuring more than 5000 pieces.
The final leg of the 2017 NZ House & Garden House Tour will be held in Auckland on April 7. The tour, held in five locations across New Zealand, is the largest charity house tour in New Zealand, and supports the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.
The tour offers a rare opportunity to explore the many treasures in every corner of Rannoch spread over four levels. Its woodland garden will also be open to view.
NZ House & Garden editor Sally Duggan said the final leg of the tour was a showcase of diversity, both in the buildings and the people who call them home.
Last year, the event series raised more than $56,000 for the charity, with Fairfax Media donating an additional $100,000 advertising campaign funding for breast cancer awareness.
The Auckland tour will feature eight houses ranging in size and architectural style.
Real estate agent Michael Boulgaris opens the doors to his restored Spanish Mission house in Remuera. Also in the line-up is the Freeman’s Bay dwelling of Sarah and Philippe Lods, an industrial-style contemporary home that recently featured on Grand Designs NZ as well as a waterfront home made in the converted changing rooms on Pt Chevalier beach.
Architects’ own homes are part of the mix including an apartment on Ponsonby Rd designed for a couple who downsized when the kids left home, and architect Guy Tarrant’s own Pt Chevalier house for his family, which neighbours thought was a public library when it was first built.