High, wide and handsome

Julie Blamires admits that she doesn’t know the story of the original owners of her and husband Mat’s bay-fronted villa on the top of the hill in Grey Lynn’s Dryden St. But the property is known as the biggest on the street, with a huge yard and wide gaps between it and the neighbours.

The couple had other things in mind when they bought, as Julie was pregnant. They just wanted to get settled somewhere comfortable before baby Emily, now 13, arrived. Son Sam followed two years later.

“Mat had always lived around here. I’d moved into his house in Crummer Rd, and we’d been doing bits and pieces, but this house was in a good state, we didn’t need to anything structural inside,” she says. “We did have to put in central heating right away, I’m from Canada and wanted a warm house.”

The fact that the family had only to make decor updates in the years they’ve been there is testament to the villa’s good design. Julie and Mat have brought in whites, punctuated with striking modern light fittings from the likes of Tom Dixon.

The kitchen needed only new Corian counters and fresh floor tiles to be as good as new. The living room has stylish deep grey walls and luxurious floor-to-ceiling curtains of grey velvet. The rest of the space is sunny and open to the back patio. The family used the front bedroom as a kids’ media room, but the two other double bedrooms on the ground floor are generous and light-filled. There’s a smart family bathroom downstairs as well as a proper laundry with another loo.

Upstairs is where the grand aspect of the house is revealed. The master bedroom was pushed up into the roof cavity, with windows that catch the views all around the city and pour sun into the space. More designer light fittings and a well-fitted out wardrobe, plus bathroom make this a smart space. The couple have watched the ridge of Grey Lynn fill with apartments and the neighbourhood shopping centre change. But the bits that haven’t changed — the walkways and playgrounds of Grey Lynn Park, the primary school, the annual festival in November, the ease of walking and busing around the city — are what the family love the most.

They are moving only so Emily and then Sam can start at Mt Albert Grammar, following a family tradition of three generations.