Garden comes care- free

This apartment enjoys the best of many worlds, writes Donna McIntyre

Visit Lesley Paton at her Viaduct apartment and there’s a welcoming party at the front door. Lesley of course, but also the charismatic bichon frise Bella who shares the apartment with Lesley and husband John.

“That is a real selling point of The Parc,” says Lesley. “It’s so dog- friendly.”

And that the apartment faces into a 3500sq m oval of open space with lawn circled by a walking track lined with cherry trees.

The Patons bought the leasehold fourth- level apartment off the plan about 12 years ago. They were downsizing from their family home in Kohi, and both worked in the CBD so it made sense to live within walking distance of their workplaces.

They already liked the design and space of The Parc apartments — theirs is 134sq m including the balconies — but they did consult an interior designer, adding customised wardrobes and other clever cupboard options in the apartment. They opted for oak flooring, engineered stone benches for the kitchen, darker wood for the kitchen and bathroom.

“We chose our own floor and wall tiles and bath shape to give the bathrooms a modern feel,” she says

They especially like having access to the balconies, facing street on one side, park on the other, from all living spaces and bedrooms.

They get the morning sun on the park side and then the afternoon sun through the french doors on the street side.

Having the balconies doubles their living space, says Lesley and they often have breakfast on the balcony overlooking the park.

Some of the glass doors have a sliding partition to let in a little bit of breeze, or on warm days they can open the french and slider doors to create a crosscurrent through the apartment.

As well, there are blinds on the outer edge of the balcony, for shade or privacy.

Lesley enjoys heading down to the shared garden area for a walk with Bella or to read a book. She and a neighbour share dog sitting if one is at work or out for the day.

She says the gardens are well maintained — the body corp covers that as well as interior and external cleaning of the shared areas of the building

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— and the cherry tree blossoms make a particularly brilliant showing in spring.

“I feel the garden is unique, I don’t know of other Auckland apartments that have this amount of land, and also access is only through the apartment building. It is a tranquil oasis in the middle of the city.” There is also a pool, sports gym and sauna. Coming into their apartment there is a small foyer created by a wall between the entry and living space. To the right of the wall is the lounge and doors to the balcony, and then one of the bedrooms plus a bathroom. To the left is dining and balcony and then the master bedroom with en suite.

The living space is divided by the kitchen and on the other side of the kitchen is the laundry, which is tucked away in a cupboard, with the hot water cylinder and linen cupboard next to it.

The couple have loved living here, walking to work, and also to the theatre or restaurants if they want to go out of an evening.

“But this part of the Viaduct is so peaceful and quite as there are no restaurants or nightclubs here and you don’t get much through traffic either,” says Lesley.

But now John’s workplace has moved away from the CBD, they feel it’s time to change their address, too — to Remuera.