KOHIMARAMA

30 SPROTT RD

In many parts of the world, multi-generational family housing has become a buzz-word for young families starting out on the property ladder. But it’s also a great way for grandparents, parents and kids to share their lives.

Gael Forbes and her husband Tim were way ahead of the trend when they moved back from overseas with their kids, then aged 10 and 8, in 1997.

“My parents, Guy and Audrey, bought this as the last section on the street in the 1960s when they moved up here from Wellington. Since then, the old Yates family estate next door was subdivided off for neighbours, but there’s always been the bush right next door,” she says.

“As the trees have grown, the view of the channel has been framed, but we can see right across the ridge to Rangitoto Island from both upstairs and down.”

Gael doesn’t know who the architect and builder were for the house, but her parents obviously had a good eye for current design. The house follows the cool ranch style of the time, complete with Hinuera stone fireplace and raked ceilings.

One of the earlier modifications to the house was by Audrey — a very keen cook and entertainer — converting Guy’s downstairs garage and workshop into a second kitchen.

Then when Gael and family returned, the family could see it was a perfect opportunity to create two sets of homes, with parents upstairs, the young family downstairs.

Further renovations in 2001 added a delightful sitting/sunroom off the master bedroom, slotted in an en suite upstairs where the original entrance used to be, with the extra space echoed in the Forbes’ home downstairs. The kitchen was redone with top-of-therange cabinetry, including the first of the clever sliding drawers and storage, in a still-stylish beige gloss, quartz countertops and an island trimmed in pale oak.

The airy and spacious open-plan living and dining opens to balconies which take in the views across the valley to the sea, the extension adding balcony access for the master suite too. The cool 60s bathroom retains its original sunken black bath, put in for Guy.

When Gael moved in downstairs, the kitchen was upgraded to a proper family kitchen, retaining the charming mid-century wood floors. The billiards room become the family sitting and dining room, and there is another smaller sitting space between this and the bedrooms, ideal for kids to spread out.

Huge doors open the ground floor to a covered terrace and the pool area, with lovely close-up views of the bush gardens of the old estate.

Upstairs are four bedrooms, one of which was used as an office; downstairs are three more, with each floor having an ensuite and family bathroom. The entire house has been painted and recarpeted since Guy died and Audrey recently moved into a retirement home. With kids long gone, Gael laughs that seven bedrooms is too much for her and her husband — although it was a full house at Christmas when family and friends came for one last holiday.

And a good holiday it would have been, as the entire ground floor opens to the landscaped pool, complete with hot tub in a pretty gazebo, with smart tropical-style gardens. The back yard is a glimpse of another time — spreading across almost half of the nearly 1500sq m of section, it was Audrey and Guy’s pride and joy. Audrey kept up her beds of annuals and perennials; the fruit trees date from when Guy had the shed and vege patch to supply fresh produce to the keen cooks in the family.

Despite the renovations surrounding the property — Sprott is one of the leafy area’s popular streets — the house and surrounds feel private and serene. Both mother and daughter enjoyed updating the house over the years to make the most of the 60s air and light, and new window and door joinery all around helped open the house to views and outdoor living.

Gael says the arrangement worked beautifully for the family for 20 years. She and her husband were setting up a food business, a pioneer of ready-made meals, so the children could walk home from nearby St Thomas’ primary school and have afternoons with their grandparents. Both households operated independently (they share the split-level entrance lobby, and a triple garage), but could come together for entertaining and family time and, as they grew older, the teens could have their own spaces, too.

The next owners might enjoy the same arrangements, even create a shared home for two families, or set up upstairs and use down as nanny or granny flat, Air BnB or home and income — certainly this house fits all the new trends of21st century urban living. Size: Land 1472sq m, house 366sq m. Price guide: Above $3.5 million. Auction: March 3, 1pm, on-site. Inspect: Sun noon12.30pm. Schools: St Thomas primary, Selwyn College. Contact: Heather Walton, Ray White, 021 432 167. On the web: raywhite.co.nz/ EPS22261 *Plus off-street.