FEATURE HOME
23 LEARMONTH AVE, BIRKENHEAD POINT
Stepping into Marilyn and Noel Manning’s house is like stepping into Italy — or Portugal or Spain. A lot of the materials were imported from those countries, from the rich tiles on the floors to fittings and fixtures.
“It has been built exactly the way they do over there,” says Marilyn, who is deeply in love with the house. The decision to sell has been a difficult one, she says. The tiles on the floor caught Marilyn’s eye when she first stepped inside.
A deep rich terracotta colour, they look perfectly in place next to the textured white walls of solid concrete which in turn are set off by the high-raking, wooden ceilings that they think are macrocarpa, which even extend into the double garage.
The house is an authentic Mediterranean build, not an imitation, she says.
The previous owner was a builder who, the story goes, was responsible for building either Parnell or Takapuna village.
She’s not sure which, but says he paid close attention not only to the quality of the build but also to making sure everything was just right.
When she and Noel travelled to Italy a couple of years after buying they were amazed to confirm how authentic their house was.
It has tiled terraces instead of decks. One of them looks down over the oval pool, which gives off a deep blue against the outdoor terracotta tiles.
The Mannings added a pergola with heavy Roman columns that took six big men to carry in, and they converted a driveway into an outdoor courtyard living area.
The house was built in the 1980s and is solid concrete — there is nothing leaky about it. “In the summer the airflow is amazing. “Because it’s so solid concrete, if anything happened to Auckland I reckon this would still be standing.
“It’s lovely and cool, it’s almost like living under a tree.”
What’s more, the concrete retains heat in winter and Size: Land 740sq m, house 240sq m. Price guide: $1.5 million to $1.8 million. Inspect: Sat/Sun 11am11.45am, or by appointment. Auction: June 19, 11am on site. Schools: Northcote Primary, Northcote College. Contact: Julie Shand, Harcourts, 021 634 787. On the web: harcourts.co.nz/ BI34542 the walls have a plaster finish with textural brush strokes you want to touch.
“And I do, I stroke the walls. People tell me, ‘You’re stroking the walls.’
“We have been here all those years and I still can’t stop looking at it. Sometimes I will just wander the house, especially at night with the lights on, because it is exotic and rich and I love it.”
Before moving to Birkenhead on Auckland’s North Shore, Marilyn and Noel were living in the peace of rural