Substantial home in tune with family needs
The peaceful setting at 20 Redwood Crescent in New Plymouth was important in 2018 when Darius and his family were looking for a spacious family home.
It wasn’t just the beautiful green outlook of the Barrett Domain reserve trees at the end of the property. It was the quiet environment here. ‘‘As a musician, quiet was important to me,’’ Darius says.
Redwood Crescent is a cul-desac of modern homes off Roto St in upper Westown and the lack of through traffic helps keep it quiet and peaceful – appealing for both the family and piano teacher Darius. He wanted to open a music studio to work from home and the property proved ideal for this.
It also fitted their family needs. ‘‘Our daughter was seven and we wanted another child, so we needed somewhere to grow our family and have the room to do that.’’
They also wanted to have space in the house to have a selfcontained area to host family visiting Taranaki, potentially for an extended time.
The four-bedroom, threeliving-area Redwood Crescent home promised that, with 286sqm of space in the house and a section of 926sqm. ‘‘When we saw this place, it ticked all the boxes.’’
Upstairs, the family have their space with three double bedrooms, a family bathroom, an office or study, and an openplan kitchen-dining-living area with a lounge or media room adjacent. The kitchen is a generous corner design with an island bench, electric wall oven, and a gas hob on the rear bench.
Both living areas open out through bifolding doors to the sunny, north-facing deck and that wall of reserve greenery at the end of the family-size lawn below.
The trees encourage a wealth of bird life, from tui and kereru close by to ducks circling above the lagoon further into Barrett Domain. A pathway alongside the house leads into the reserve and its bush walks.
Downstairs, a third living room, – the master with ensuite, another bathroom, and a laundry provided the basis for selfcontained quarters, completed when they installed a kitchenette. ‘‘We could have people stay and still have our private space upstairs,’’ Darius says. ‘‘It’s like two homes in one.’’
They added laundry services to the large family bathroom upstairs, there is also the original chute for dropping clothes to the lower laundry in the hallway.
Darius gained his piano studio with the conversion of the basement double garage. Stacker sliding doors replaced the sectional roller door, the ceiling has noise bats and an extra layer of noise gib, and the original concrete floor was highly polished as a suitable surface on which a new grand piano and and upright piano were placed. It’s now a refined space of abut 40sqm that could be repurposed for other work-fromhome options that new owners might want.
Two existing carports still provide accommodation for vehicles – one at the front of the house at street level, the other beneath the house next to the new studio.
This home has been wonderful for the family, which grew as planned with the arrival of their son, Darius says.
The address here is convenient, he adds, with its proximity to the Countdown supermarket at Spotswood, cafe and grocery store choices just five minutes from home,
Frankley School and Francis Douglas Memorial College not much further, and city shopping just 10 minutes away.
The Hurdon community has impressed Darius.
He notes the Hurdon group page on Facebook where residents let group members know of surplus fruit and vegetables to be shared or the availability of surplus meals. ‘‘There’s a Halloween Trail every year with people registering to show their support for trick-or-treat visits. Up at the bus shelter, there are DVDs, board games, and books to share.’’
The area is a safe neighbourhood that has a distinct village feel, he says. ‘‘There’s a smalltown vibe that I’ve never quite had in any suburb I’ve ever lived in.’’
By Mike Shaw