INNER-CITY HAVEN

This spacious apartment is fitted out for family living, writes Robyn Welsh

For one North American business family, the smooth workings of family life between two countries occasionally come down to something as commonplace as mustard.

You know you’ve got mustard. Four jars in fact. It’s just that they’re all in your other three homes, not the one you’re in now, with a meal in front of you that needs mustard to take it to the next level.

That’s this family’s analogy for the comic frustrations that are, by their own admission, a mere niggle when compared with their lifestyle choices in Canada and New Zealand.

In Canada, their four-montha-year options are their city pied-a` -terre and their much larger rural, lake-side family home near Montreal.

In Auckland, they’ve worked it differently. This third floor corner apartment in The Point is their family home, in the gated development designed by architect Gordon Moller of Sky Tower fame.

Their extensively renovated property on Waiheke Island with its north-facing ocean views is their weekender. That’s the one they are keeping as they downsize from here into a smaller Auckland base.

“Eight months of the year spent between the city and Waiheke Island means a lot of travelling and we need more flexibility in our lives,” says Danielle. “We’re not really spending enough time in any of them.”

Danielle and her husband are Canadian-born New Zealand citizens who moved here 16 years ago. They bought this apartment when their children left school. “It is really quite sensational,” says Danielle. “We’ve got stunning views on three sides — west, north and east. It is high spec; it is really comfortable family living.”

Danielle, a chartered accountant, worked with interior designer Bev Sandoy to rework this apartment that prioritises family living.

“Even though we didn’t change the footprint, everything else is new here. This was like building a new home.”

The gallery-style hallway off the front door showcases their art collection. Danielle and Bev opened up the formerly separate kitchen and dining room for better open-plan functionality. There’s a fully equipped scullery and a built-in cocktail cabinet. The island bench is granite and its splashback behind the bar stools is natural stone, while the floor is solid European oak.

Their study-for-two features a wrap-around walnut oak desk and a pull out bed/couch for third bedroom-flexibility. The luxe master bedroom is their ultimate comfort zone.

The laundry has the same natural stone surfaces as the kitchen and the guest powder room has a glass mosaic feature wall. Outdoors, their 80sq m decks have timber shutters to mitigate the weather.

“The common areas include a spectacular Dibble sculpture,” says Pene Milne, from Sotheby’s International Realty.

“This tightly held corner of The Point apartments, is a seldom-found opportunity in the best position on the harbourfront in the city.

“The award-winning architecture by Moller Architects has already stood the test of time.

“The interior finish is impeccable and noticeably a step up from most.”

This family has cherished every square inch of it too. “Of all the homes we’ve had in New York, Toronto, Montreal and New Zealand, this is the one I’m going to miss the most because it is so personal,” says Danielle. Sale: Set sale closes June 18

Contact: Pene Milne, NZ Sotheby’s International Realty, 021 919 940

“We’ve got stunning views on three sides — west, north and east. It is high spec; it is really comfortable family living.”