PAD ON WATER’S EDGE
One of NZ’s most striking homes is a concrete, cedar and steel structure overlooking the Waitemata Harbour,
Astriking Auckland house on the market might be eclipsed by one of its most famous tenants: British movie star Jason Statham.
The action man lived there with fiance´ Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley in 2016 while filming the hit shark pic, The Meg.
Locals reported spotting him at the local cafe.
The house, at 20 Rawene Street, Westmere, is one of New Zealand's most striking— a concrete, cedar and steel structure perched on the edge of the Waitemata Harbour.
It is being marketed by Pene Milne of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty and has been attracting enquiries from architecture buffs from all around the world.
The house, completed in 2011, was the result of nearly five years’ work. The owners secured two side-by-side sections to create a 1978 sq m site and then asked architects Ponting Fitzgerald for a house that connected land to the sea.
The layers of detail start with the story of the “streams”— ponds that weave inside and outside the house and finish at the 17m infinity pool.
Designer David Ponting used concrete cast in rough cedar for the soaring walls, fine steel joinery for the windows, and crafted cedar for the ceilings and finishes.
“Concrete earths the house,” he says. “Then the cedar forms wrap and define the spaces to be playful. The sun plays off the concrete walls.”
Ponting used Italian glass chandeliers, finely crafted joinery in the kitchens and bathrooms, and wood and basalt stone flooring.
He says that the manipulation of the volumes — some soaring, wide and lightfilled, others smaller and more intimate — make the 733sq m house seem fun and welcoming.
From an enclosed entrance, Ponting’s design directs visitors to the lofty reception rooms. Living, dining and kitchen all open to the terraces and pool, and there are also sunny morning spots off the kitchen.
A charming pair of double bedrooms share an en suite. A suite for children has a sunken television space, and there’s a separate fourth suite.
A theatre off the main living room can be closed off, and a music room opens to its own amphitheatre on the terrace.
The kitchen and its adjoining scullery is packed with top end appliances — Falcon cookers, Miele fridges, three Liebherr wine fridges and three dishwashers.
The basement has a cool ‘lad pad’ with bar, fireplace, TV, and pool table. The top floor is devoted to a bedroom suite with luxury bathroom and dressing room. There’s also a private library.
Says Pene: “In 20 or 30 years, the bones and architecture will be classic and elegant. This doesn’t date.”
Sale: Price on application
Contact: Pene Milne, New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty, 021 919 940
Jason Statham and fiance Rosie HuntingtonWhiteley stayed here while he filmed The
Meg. Locals reported spotting him at the local cafe.