WAKING UP TO WONDERLAND
The beachside ‘Lighthouse’ is named for its light-filled interior rather than any nautical reference,
Victor Rutherford reckons "life's so much better when you wake up to a spectacular view". This he does in this waterfront home ‘The Lighthouse', between Takapuna and Milford on Auckland's North Shore.
It's named for its beautiful interior light rather than any nautical reference. And Victor, a former dairy farmer with a fondness for great architecture, is in awe of its five-level design with tilted timber roof canopies and vast glass.
"It's spectacular. It makes you ever conscious the sea is just out there," he says.
"And you feel so at one with nature, in a manner that reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house."
Victor recently refurbished and reinvigorated the architecture after buying out a mate he bought the house with in 2008.
The home began as a 1954 Ivan Juriss Group Architects' residence before architect Felicity Wallace's 1991 remodelling.
Almost all rooms admire water. It opens to two front decks, intimate courtyards and secure lower lawn.
The size of the cedar, plaster and concrete home with 180deg views and two kitchens saw Victor and his wife, Microsoft engineer Faranak Torabi, sometimes tenant the refurbished lower portion.
Faranak says: "The outlook is magical. I've seen dolphins and orcas before I've even left for work, and seals sunbathing on the rocks."
The recent major upgrade replaced the main kitchen, aging exterior cedar and decks, balustrades with glass, and repolished floors. "It's transformed how the house looks," says Victor.
Bayleys Takapuna agent Victoria Bidwell says: "This property offers inspirational architecture and an incredible lifestyle which buyers may not normally be able to afford in return for the small compromise of not having conventional parking."
Council allows occasional vehicular access to the gated lower entrance and single garage housing Victor's Ferrari. Up top, owners may unload cars but not park long-term down a shared driveway feeding the private entry. A floating staircase steps down from street level past an infinity-edged swimming pool, feeding a waterfall to the next level down, before reaching the front door.
Native timber floors and match-lined cedar ceilings enhance the ambiance. A private front deck flows off a living-dining-kitchen with gas fireplace.
Victor says: "It's one of those houses everyone loves to visit."
The master bedroom's sumptuous en suite with bath accesses a deck with spa pool. Faranak says: "It's special waking to this view through pohutukawa to the sea."
Upstairs is the uppermost level's office and downstairs two sea-gazing bedrooms accompanying a bathroom and laundry.
Vaulted ceilings soar over the subsequent open-plan main living level with another front deck and side courtyard.
Its lounge and dining space accompany a new entertainers' kitchen with leather-finish granite benches, its scullery feeding a wine cellar built into the cliff.
Victor says: "It's so great for entertaining that lunches often stretch into being dinner too."
Given the additional ground floor, originally designed as a children's level, there's potential for blended or extended families, intergenerational living or home-and-income.
Its three compact double bedrooms accompany a bathroom, laundry and the internal-access garage.
Its tiled lounge flows out to the lawned end of the 888sq m property with the coast beyond its auto-gated rock wall and Thorne Bay nearby.
Sale: Price by negotiation
Contact: Victoria Bidwell, Bayleys, 021 947 080