Fit for a modern purpose

Tyrone Le Roux is well known for taking apart heritage villas and putting them back together, fit for new purposes more than a century on.

This time round though, he found himself also taking apart the original brick chimney and rebuilding a replica chimney, as per the Auckland Council’s heritage frontage requirements.

The result is the chimney that fools everyone, recreated from slip tiles cut from the original bricks. It is also the chimney that goes nowhere because it has nothing to do with the three new gas fireplaces in the two lounges and in the rear courtyard.

This is a feature purely for show, unlike everything else throughout this reworked four-storey family home. From the new front fence to the newly planted rear hedging, this home balances good looks and functionality, heritage features and replica additions as well as original scale and complementary proportions.

The front door with its quaint letterbox slot is original, as is the 3.3m internal stud height in the original front part of the house. The 2.3m high solid interior doors are new, as are the skirting boards, the wall mouldings and the doors into the second lounge which resemble a sliding wall.

As with so many renovated villas, the end of the hallway defines the extent of the original dwelling and that was the case here when Tyrone bought this property two years ago.

Employing architect John Irving on his latest Urban Space development project, Tyrone worked family-sized requirements into this home by excavating the back of the property.

This allowed for the multi-storey rear addition and open plan living extending out to the courtyard. Beyond rear steps, the back lawn and the glass-end pool are level with the front of the house. This creates a tranquil green backdrop that greets visitors walking through the front door.

At the end of the hall, new pre-finished, open-tread oak stairs rise up through the centre of the house. From the basement garage/laundry, they take in the main living area and front bedrooms, the upstairs master suite/study and the attic-level bedroom/en suite.

The dark-stained Cedar/steel battens in the stairwell are the vertical element that contrasts the low-slung for of the house, the construction of which served up some challenges.

Scaffolding had to be erected at the back of the house so that six workmen could lift the pyramid-shaped shower glass up through the master bedroom and into the rear en suite.

This glass was just one of Tyrone’s bespoke choices in a home that features textured tiles, marble and brushed brass tapware.

Inside the front gate, dark grey patterned tiles enliven the front path. There is a white relief tiled splashback in the scullery and a Carrara marble splashback in the laundry, chosen to complement their white Corian benches.

The kitchen island bench makes a statement in Carrara marble as well, as a contrast to the black perimeter cabinetry and the fixed-pane glass splashback with its garden view.

In the lounge, there is subtle contrast in the lightly textured plaster wall above the fireplace which hides the workings for an optional television set behind it.

“This 350 sq m residence is a masterclass in sublime living,” says Blair Haddow from Bayleys.

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