Homes We Love: Buy a house, get a bridge for free
After 30 years with one family, this Horace Massey-designed home with a tree-lined bridge is ready to welcome another, writes LEIGH BRAMWELL.
REMUERA
4 Cotter Avenue
Thirty years ago, in the Saturday morning paper, was an advertisement with a small drawing of a house for sale in Remuera.
Neville and Louise Porter still have that ad, and remember the conversation that ensued.
“Louise said to me: ‘Here – this is style! What do you think of it? Shall we go and have a look?’,” Neville recalls.
“We did, and we jumped right in.
“So we bought it for no reason apart from that it was time for a new picture.”
The pair had four small children back then and within a couple of weeks of living in the house, a neighbour came by to ask what the name of the kindergarten was.
4 Cotter Avenue in Remuera was that kind of house conceived and built in the roaring ‘20s, a decade of exuberance and merriment.
A classic 1927 Horace Massey Arts and Crafts design, it has been a home full of fun and laughter for the family and their friends - Christmas plays, music concerts, carols and, as the children grew older, pre-ball parties and karaoke nights.
Horace Massey was prolific in design, and Neville and Louise say this house is a really nice example of the Arts and Crafts style, with excellent proportions, a great layout, and the style Louise recognised from that first drawing.
They too have added to that style with some contemporary finishes which, thanks to Neville’s artistic talent, have blended perfectly into the classic features of the home.
“We’ve changed things around quite a lot because we definitely wanted some contemporary finishes, so there are modern Spanish light fittings in four rooms which enhance the way the light is used, the kitchen has new French oak flooring.
“I do a lot of artwork so I’m confident enough to mix things up,” he says.
The house sits on 1277sqm of land near Remuera Library in the double grammar zone. Access is via a tree-lined bridge through a beautifully landscaped garden with many outdoor entertaining areas.
Visitors arrive via the elegant porte coche` re and are introduced to the house through the leadlight entry doors. Inside there are five bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a selection of dining and sitting areas, all with period features such as decorative skirtings and ceilings, leadlight windows (there are only two windows in the house that are not leadlight) and a new kitchen.
The kitchen is in fact to blame for the house going to auction on April 18. Built of German oak, it was a total renovation of the original kitchen right down to the floor, so Neville and Louise moved out for the duration into the nearby original family home, which was empty.
During their stay Neville’s brother came by and suggested that when they moved back home, the house should be sold. Auction: April 18
Contact: Steve Koerber, Ray White, 021 864 166