You’ll be dancing for joy
This home was big to start with but has been extended up, out and down, writes Donna Fleming
It’s rare to find a home with living spaces big enough to be used as a dance studio. So when renowned Kiwi dancer and choreographer MaryJane O’Reilly first viewed a villa in Sentinel Rd 25 years ago, and saw that two adjoining rooms could be used as one, she was won over. “It was the space for the studio that I really liked, plus the fact that I could smell the sea as I walked down the road,” recalls MaryJane, who co- founded Limbs dance company in the late 1970s.
“I had been looking for a house where I could work from home and this house not only had the studio but a bedroom opposite that could be used as an office. The location near Sentinel Beach was also ideal. It was just what we wanted.”
MaryJane, her husband Phil and their daughter Morgana ( then 4 ) moved in in 1991 and over the years many dance works have been conceived and honed in the studio at the front of the house, including MaryJane’s contemporary version of the ballet Giselle, and her neo- burlesque production In Flagrante.
When Morgana was a teenager the space became her bedroom for a few years. She flew the nest many years ago and the studio is once again used for ballet classes MaryJane teaches.
The space features a traditional bay window, a striking fireplace with art nouveau- style tiles, original Kauri floors, a decorative plaster ceiling and vibrant red walls in one half. This area can be closed off thanks to double doors and used as two rooms, but for MaryJane, having so much space to dance has been a luxury.
She and husband Phil are not fans of bland “cookie cutter” homes. They made sure that as well as preserving the original period features such as the leadlight windows and ornate fretwork that give their 1906 villa so much character, they’ve stamped their own colourful personalities on the place, and made sure it contains plenty of quirky touches, such as the L- shaped swimming pool laid out on a jaunty angle in the back garden.
In 1995 the O’Reillys added an extension to the rear of the house, building out, up and down. They gained a sunken living room with french doors out to a lower deck and the garden, a new kitchen and dining area that leads to an upper deck and, above the living room, a master bedroom with an en suite and storage tucked under the roof.
Phil says the living room is his favourite part of the house, and he likes being able to look down on it from the dining area. Morgana, an actor who has appeared in Neighbours, once performed her onewoman play The Height of the Eiffel Tower there.
“It’s unconventional but it’s very convivial,” he says.
Meanwhile, MaryJane particularly loves the main bedroom upstairs, which is north- west facing so the sun pours in in the afternoon and early evening.
“I love lying on the bed reading,” MaryJane says. “You can see the water and it is just a lovely room.”
There are two further bedrooms on the main level along with a generous bathroom that has a spa bath and music speakers.
The garden is private with lots of established trees, and under the house is a huge storage room currently housing many of the costumes worn by the Limbs dancers in the 1970s and 80s. This area could be further developed.
The decision to put their home on the market has not been an easy one – not only have Phil and MaryJane enjoyed living in the house but they’ve loved the location close to Jervois Rd and Sentinel Beach, and being just a short drive from the city.
“But it is time for a change,” says MaryJane. “We’re going to downsize, and another family can make this their home.” AUCTION: INSPECT: SCHOOLS: CONTACT: ON THE WEB: