ONCE IN A LIFETIME
JORDAN LUCK’S NEXT MOVE
Singer, songwriter and quirky soul Jordan Luck floored a real estate agent when he and wife Rita Luck first meandered round this property. The pair decided to buy a home around
1999 when they were getting married. Jordan, front man of the Jordan Luck Band who famously fronted revered Kiwi band The Exponents, says: “I suppose it was a bit of a strange story.
“We walked down this driveway and at the end of it I heard this burbling. I ambled my way around the house and sure enough it was a stream and I’m going ‘Oh wow, we’ll take it. Wow, there’s a flippin’ stream here in the middle of Auckland’.
“The agent looked at me strangely asking ‘But don’t you want to see inside the house?’”
Rita says: “Then Jordan said ‘No, we’ll live out here, we’ll camp out here.”
Their home’s special setting won them over but naturally they did look through its two-storey circa
70s Hardiboard house with upper gable windows. Located just west of Western Springs Park, front auto gates secure Alfie the dog, Jim the cat and a sense of oasis down the driveway.
Their home with resplendent red exterior is set amid a verdantly green palm-spotted, stream-side setting which feels positively tropical drenched in Auckland’s summer balminess.
Rita says: “Everyone says they wouldn’t have known it was here.
“They remark on how tranquil it is, as we’re set down a little bit between Great North Road and the motorway. It practically feels like it’s in the countryside.”
The previous owner, a charming lady who favoured roses, laid on a spread and introduced them to friendly neighbours.
Jordan and Rita made many changes including re-painting the exterior, swathing it in several decks, re-doing the kitchen and bathroom and laying beautiful rimu floors throughout.
Jordan says: “So many people we were acquainted with helped improve the property so a lot of love and friendship went into it.”
They often called upon multi-talented former muso friends. Builders who’d been drummers in bands such as Dead Flowers, Elemeno P and No Tag undertook or oversaw deck, kitchen, bathroom and studio creation projects.
Rita, who works at APRA which helps music creators get paid for their work, says: “So this is a sort of a house by drummers.”
There’s off-street parking for four cars down the private gated driveway. The grounds partially bounded by the clear-water stream feature palms, willow and edibles such as fig and macadamia.
Core members of the Kiwi music community, including the late Graham Brazier and Dave McArtney, have hung out here in the open-plan living-dining-kitchen flowing out to decks. Rita recommends savouring wine on the upper deck off here overlooking the greenery.
This level with reverse-cycle heat pump also has a bedroom, cupboard laundry, a bathroom and a studio space under angled ceilings. This multipurpose room, which replaced the former garage, would make a great teenage bedroom with its rear french doors, deck and separate entry. Upstairs are two more good-sized bedrooms. A big deck, slightly down the section nearer the stream with boardwalks to it, is a great spot to entertain larger groups.
Jordan loves the amble over the road to Western Springs Park, next-door to where The Exponents belted out anthems such as Victoria supporting David Bowie and The Rolling Stones in the ’80s.
He rates their property’s handiness: “I took Rita and Mum to Johnny Farnham and Lionel Richie at the Vector and it took me six minutes via the Port Road.”