THE SPIRIT OF LOMU ENDURES
Catherine Masters finds best kept secret at “Jonah end of the street”
Fiona Taylor’s house in Freemans Bay, Auckland, is at the “Jonah Lomu end of the street”. She and the late rugby star bought the house together in 2003 and though they later parted, people still ask if she lives there.
“He loved this house,” Fiona says of No. 36, a four-bedroom property with city and harbour views one way and Ponsonby Rd a short walk away the other. Fiona has lived here for 16 years and has decided to downsize, though she would love to stay in the street.
The house, in a cul de sac and on the market for $3.795m, features three bedrooms (all with skylights and big wardrobes) on the first floor and a spacious master bedroom upstairs.
The dining/living room is extra large. At one end is a deck with views to the city; at the other bifold doors lead to a tiled patio kept private by grandiflora magnolia hedging. Next to the patio is a covered deck.
The kitchen has a butler’s pantry and the timber flooring on the ground level is light kauri.
Fiona, a business coach, uses one of the bedrooms as her office and this room has a private deck and views across the city. The master bedroom also has its own private deck along with a large en suite with spa bath and walk-in wardrobe.
Above the stairs on the second level are skylights through which you can see a church spire from nearby Ponsonby Rd.
“It’s a pretty cool place,” Fiona says. “It was originally built in the early 1900s. In the 1960s it it was split into two flats and in the 1970s recombined into a family home.”
She says she and Jonah bought the house because it was quiet and private.
Because it is gated Fiona has always felt safe, for herself and her cocker spaniel.
Fiona likes the master bedroom and big lounge the most. She says the lounge is a great party room and the house itself is great for entertaining.
There’s wonderful viewing on Guy Fawke’s night with the Sky City fireworks on display.
“We’ve had many a New Year’s Eve party.People turn up here just before midnight and you can see the fireworks out on the water. You can see them when they do them at the Domain.”
Although this is city living at its best the house is also quiet, and Fiona describes Arthur St as very settled.
There is an abundance of storage and she says the new owners need only tweak the house to make it their own.
Or they could consider adding another floor underneath where the two garages and ‘man cave’ are.
Bayleys agent Blair Haddow says this house encapsulates the very best Freemans Bay has to offer, with Ponsonby Rd accessed through the laneway at the end of the cul de sac.
“Number 36 Arthur St is at the cul de sac end of the street so it is extremely serene and peaceful.”