WELCOME HOME
A couple and their children delight in the changes made by the former owners of this Mt Eden villa, writes ROBYN WELSH
Anchored to its volcanic perch, this Edwardian villa has stretched its wings across its 110-year history to embrace the entire site. Built about 1910, the house at one point was turned into three flats. Later it was converted back into a family home. And that was how it presented itself when Colleen and Dave Strachan, real estate agent and architect respectively, bought it around 1990. In the mid-1990s, they began a major renovation, focusing mostly on turning overlooked rooms at the west-facing rear of the house into an open plan kitchen/dining/living are for them and their four children. This area has been key for Cherie and Clinton Berryman, who bought the house off the Strachans in 2015. Since then they’ve added things here and there while lavishing most of their attention on the outdoors. Working with landscape architect Robin Shafer, they put in an in-ground heated pool/ spa pool, added new decking and lawn , a portico and woodfired pizza oven. The excavations yielded mountains of scoria. They used it to extend a garden wall; bigger pieces have been integrated into the landscaped lower garden. Mt Eden’s volcanic heart throws up both charm and challenges for builders. A midlevel hall that opens to underhouse storage shows ancient volcanic boulders and timber piles anchored deep beneath them. “That’s Mt Eden,” says Cherie. Unfolding above is this
“I like looking back through the window at the garden —itisso soothing.”
three-storey villa with bedrooms, bathrooms, studies and living areas on the top two levels, and the garage/ workshop at ground level. Its charm is in its architectural details. Its modern lifestyle options are endless. Their two scshool-age children’s homework room is opposite the formal “silver room”, the lounge with its pressed steel ceiling and wallpapered feature wall. Cherie took out the doors from this room to the kitchen, preferring to keep the focus on their less formal open plan kitchen and family room. Her love of Colleen’s mid1990s kitchen is in its functionality — an upstand, for instance, screens the kitchen bench from guests. The view out to the garden is special for Cherie, too. “I like looking through the window at the garden — it is so soothing.” For Cherie and Clinton, who work in advertising and human resources, this is their third home in Mt Eden in 12 years. They’re on track to continue moving within the suburb every few years, just for the change. “The kids love moving too,” says Cherie. But former owners Colleen and Dave Strachan like staying put. “We don’t move homes a lot,” says Colleen. She has a soft spot for the villa she and Dave renovated all those years ago. “It was always a fantastic home.” Sale: Auction March 4 Contact: Colleen Strachan; Unlimited Potential, 021 283 6194; Richard Hart, 021 973 474