- The Titirangi home at 221 Woodlands Park Road is filled with thousands of toys.
- Owners Cial Cheng and Lin Zhang transformed it into a colourful playground for kids and adults.
- The property, featuring unique play areas, goes to auction on April 18.
It’s the West Auckland house that more than meets the eye.
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The three-bedroom property at 221 Woodlands Park Road, in Titirangi, is home to thousands of toys.
The fun-loving owners gave OneRoof an exclusive tour and revealed why they turned their corner of suburbia into a colourful fun park that’s as much fun for grown-ups as it is for kids.
Cial Cheng, who lives at the home with wife Lin Zhang and their two boys, Austin, 9, and Oliver, 11, was quick to show OneRoof his favourite room and – more importantly – his favourite toy: Bumblebee.
Transforming – and Transformers – feature large in the Cheng and Zhang’s makeover of the house. The first clue is the rainbow paint on the front of the house, the yard and decks transformed with racing ramps, hopscotch and climbing boxes.
The front door opens to a toy-filled lobby, a homage to Transformers, Lego, Minions and more. Photo / Supplied
The family hosts enormous water fights for friends and family in the colourful backyard. Photo / Supplied
The couple said that the 1970s house they bought when Austin was a baby, and Oliver a toddler, was the standard Kiwi beige. They thought “maybe an indoor treehouse would be good for growing boys”.
Countless hours of DIY painting and decorating later, and their Woodlands Park Road house is arguably the most fun place to be in West Auckland.
Indoors, the playground garage and rumpus room (door optional, a climbing through slot is better) are fitted out with swings and a slide, gymnastics rings, and an entire art department for the kids. A wall of Nerf and water-guns are lined up for water battles with friends.
The living room has more collections of soft toys that the family has been collecting since the kids were babies. Photo / Supplied
Even the bathroom has had a colourful toy makeover. Photo / Supplied
Cheng showed OneRoof his Bumblebee toy and a Lego racing car that was his first set. They are personal highlights among hundreds of Transformer buddies, Batmans and Spidermans, tribes of Minions, and shelves and shelves of bricks. The only house rule is: the kids’ bedroom is a toy-free zone, filled with books and art projects instead.
The family is selling up – and taking their toys with them – to move closer to work and relatives. The property goes to auction on April 18.
The house is one of the most viewed on OneRoof since the listing went live.
When OneRoof talked to Cheng last month about the home, and he said that he and his wife wanted a different life for their children compared to their childhood in China.
“It’s been a pleasure because when we were kids, we didn’t get time to play that much. The [emphasis] is on study.”
- 221 Woodlands Park Road, Titirangi, Auckland, goes to auction on April 18
