Spectacular and spacious in dress circle Karori

TENDERS CLOSE on October 29 for an elegant character home with superbly landscaped grounds in dress circle Karori.

The five-bedroom property, at 70 Homewood Ave, combines a four-bedroom house that dates to the 1920s with a selfcontained one-bedroom studio on an elevated, fenced 633-squaremetre section with garaging for three cars.

Renovated in the late 1980s, the 250sqm weatherboard-and-ironroof dwelling blends rimu joinery, marble and granite with period features and a stairwell with a floor-to-ceiling cathedral window that floods the splitlevel interior with natural light.

The front door opens into a slate entrance. Below are the internalaccess double garage and wine cellar while the living areas and bedrooms are on the upper levels.

The formal lounge has an open fireplace with a granite hearth and French doors to the formal dining room, which has a fireplace and a serving hatch to the kitchen: double oven, five-burner hob, rangehood, dishwasher, walk-in pantry, dining island, and bifolding windows to a sunny, sheltered courtyard.

One of the bedrooms also opens to the blue slate courtyard while the main bedroom has an adjoining office with built-in bookcases and a view over Homewood Ave.

Also on this level is a bathroom with a deep, stand-alone bath, shower, toilet, vanity and a hideaway laundry.

The two double bedrooms on the top level open to a deck and share a semi-ensuite with a shower, bath, toilet and pedestal basin.

Both bedrooms overlook the private courtyard, with its evergreen magnolia and maple trees, and a gate that opens to terraced lawn with buxus hedging, 35 rose bushes, a water feature and sycamore trees on the perimeter.

Other features of 70 Homewood Ave include gas central heating, internal vacuuming and zoning for Wellington College and Wellington Girls’ College.

‘‘This is a spectacular family home that’s as refined as it is spacious,’’ says Pano Focas, of Leaders, who’s marketing it with Nicholas Reeve.

‘‘It’s warm and solid on a sightly elevated corner site with a sunny garden that’s been planted for year-round colour, is sheltered from the prevailing northerlies and has a lovely outlook over Karori.

‘‘The location is city-end and tightly held, and only five minutes’ walk from shops, cafes and buses. Homewood Avenue is renowned for its superior properties but even by its standards this is an exceptional and lovingly maintained character home.’’

The property has a rateable value of $1.3 million.