Moderne mansion a rare find
Peeking from the Tinakori trees on Wellington’s Grant St is an unusual, three-tiered icecream cake of a house that stands out.
When it replaced a turn-of-thecentury cottage, much like the homes on either side of it, in 1937 it was possibly the first home in the country to be constructed from concrete blocks.
It’s surrounded by greenery, has a view across the harbour, and is filed with rich, warm native timbers.
It didn’t become Berys Walter’s home until April Fools Day 2000 but leaving it will be no joke to her.
‘‘I am having quite a lot of separation anxiety,’’ says Walter, who has put the home on the market ahead of a downsizing move.
‘‘It’s got so many good points. It’s really close to all the lovely trees and the walks on Te Ahumairangi and the northern walkway. It’s easy walking into town, you can be down on Lambton Quay in 20 minutes.’’
With Zealandia ‘‘up the road’’ in Karori, the home is visited by a lot of birds too. A ‘‘big old grand-daddy’’ oak tree in front of the house is frequently filled with the things, and the garden is delightfully sheltered from that signature Wellington wind.
‘‘We have kaka come, tuis and a lot of regular garden birds. We see the cruise ships come and go. It’s a bit like being in Europe because it’s surrounded by deciduous trees so you really notice the changing seasons.’’
There’s certainly a lot of love in the Walter family for this home. But a smaller, more manageable life up the coast and closer to family is calling, and so they’ve reluctantly put the home on the market.
Ranged over three floors, two for living and bedrooms, and a third basement for storage and the laundry – although Walter says plans have been drawn up to convert the space into a garden apartment – the home is 170 square metres with almost the same again in land for the garden and patio.
There’s central heating, an 81⁄2-foot stud and concrete construction that makes it very quiet.
But what really makes it stand out from the villas and mansions of Thorndon is the building’s style: streamline, or art moderne, a bigger, bolder subset of art deco that had its roots in the United States.
It’s a style that estate agent Craig Lowe, of Lowe and Co, calls ‘‘very desirable’’.
‘‘People love art deco character and its considerable charm. But what’s really special about the house is it’s an inner-city home and yet it has established grounds with beautiful green surroundings.
‘‘It’s also located in Thorndon, the CBD end of the city, so it’s about as close as you can get to the business district without being in an inner-city apartment.’’
The listing asks for offers over
$1,250,000.