FAMILY FAVOURITE

This beautifully refurbished home has proved itself an intergenerational success, the owners tell Leigh Bramwell

Many of the advantages delivered by this character home in St Marys Bay were not even on the owners’ wish list. Sun and views were their main requirements, so the potential for flexible spaces for intergenerational living, a location “20 minutes from everywhere”, and generous access to the outdoors were bonuses.

Built in the early 1900s, the character home, now for sale by negotiation, charmed the current owners when they first saw it about 10 years ago.

“We walked into the private, east-facing courtyard, and then through the house and into the light.”

They engaged architect Peter Sargisson to redesign the spaces, enlarging both the basement and the upper level and adding a louvred roof at the back of the house to provide covered outdoor living on the spacious deck.

The renovation took 11 months and came in on time and on budget. The owners give much of the credit for that to their project manager. “He would call meetings once a week or once a fortnight and we would all have to report back to him. The whole project was made easy by his administration skills. We called him St Clint.”

A designer helped with the interior colour scheme, working out a palette of subtle pale greys for the interior walls. “I’m not a fan of brown, so even the floors had to comply. The French oak has no red or yellow in it; the tones are more grey.”

Within the 547sq m footprint

“We lived here with our daughter and her two babies for six months, and it proved itself as a very successful intergenerational house.”

there are now five bedrooms, three bathrooms, an open-plan kitchen, scullery, dining and sitting room, a separate lounge, a large studio space on the basement level, and ample storage.

There’s a lift for easy access between floors, but it wasn’t installed as an age-proofing measure. “We don’t use it in that way,” the owner says. “It’s mostly used for getting our suitcases up and down when we go away, and of course for any particularly heavy items.”

The front door on the middle level opens to an elegant entranceway which is the introduction to the multiple living spaces with spectacular views over Westhaven to the harbour bridge. Also on this level is the loggia and covered deck area which wraps around the north and west sides.

“Our previous house was very modern but surprisingly this is so easy to live in. When our kids came back from overseas they pronounced it the nicest house we’ve ever lived in.

“It’s very flexible. We lived here with our daughter and her two babies for six months, and it proved itself as a very successful intergenerational house.”

The garden is small but it has a spacious feel and is well organised with lawns, shrubs and hard landscaping.

“We have three lemon trees, a lime and a mandarin. I made sure there would be something of interest all year round, and that when you go to get the mail, there is always something scented near the letterbox.” Sale: By negotiation

Contact: Ross Hawkins, Ray White, 0274 720 557