Award-winning Clifford-Forsyth House in Remuera -the kind of home you fall in love with the moment you walk in

Architect Patrick Clifford of Architectus New Zealand designed this Remuera home which embraces the bush for his own family, and it was awarded the Inaugural Home magazine’s Home of the Year in 1996.

It has been an ideal family house for Carmel and David, the parents of young adult children to be based. The lower-level bedroom and office/living room was a haven for university students or young couples saving to buy for their own place, they say.

The owners have lived at this stunning four bedroom north facing residence for the past 13 years.

“We bought it from a friend of a friend,” remembers Carmel. “We came from a villa and the moment we walked in, it was like, we took it all in for about 10 seconds, and we just went, ‘yes, yes’!.”

“We had grown up children coming and going , buying houses, living overseas and then returning. So it was perfect, they came back and were able to have the downstairs area and be sort of self-contained.”

“In fact, we thought we weren’t going to get rid of them because it was such a nice little paradise for them, “ she laughs.

The lower-level bedroom and second lounge, office or fourth bedroom, has otherwise been a nice retreat for David to work from home, with its views over the stream, says Carmel.

They also enjoy having their bedroom on the top floor with a second bedroom up on the same level which can also be used as an office or retreat.

The couple have put their own stamp on this private home which sits at the very end of Kelvin Road in Remuera, updating the bathrooms and giving them underfloor heating.

The kitchen was built with such good materials, all they have had to do is add a pantry and update the appliances, says Carmel.

One of her favourite parts of the home is the living area which has floor to ceiling windows at either end opening out onto cantilevered decks that embrace the native bush surrounds.

“It’s got so many views and in the summer it opens right out. You can just bring the bifold doors back from the kitchen and you are straight out to the table on the garden deck, or you can sit at the dining table and the bifold doors go back out onto the deck that side.  So you’ve essentially got no walls.”

And in the winter time, the north-facing home is very sheltered.

“You get a false sense of the real temperature. You go up to the main road and you are blasted by the wind, but you don’t feel it down at the house,” says Carmel.

This is a home to be enjoyed in summer of course – and at the base of the house there is direct access to the Orakei Basin waterways so the family keep kayaks ready to take out.  

“We’ve all used them, us, the adult children and now we’ve even had the grandchildren with their life jackets on to go into the Orakei Basin from here,” says Carmel.

“You are 12 minutes from the city, but you’ve got the kererū, pūkeko, the ducks, the ruru, so it is kind of cool.”

This family has thoroughly enjoyed the Kelvin Road community with its broad demographic thanks to Meadowbank School and a kindergarten nearby.

The vendors’ agent, Ray White’s John Lantz also lives in Kelvin Road and has done for 24 years.

The proximity of Meadowbank School and a local kindergarten mean for families of young children, they don’t have to travel off the street until their kids are about 11 years old, he says.

“Clifford-Forsyth House has been so well maintained, it is in as good shape or better than it was on the day it was built,” he says.  

“You’ve got the cedar construction on the outside and exposed wood beam ceilings, there is exposed concrete block as well and a mixture of wrought iron and steel. So it’s a really good blend of solid materials.”

The agent says professional couples will be interested in the property and he thinks it would suit a family like Carmel and David’s with older children who don’t want a lot of land to maintain.

The guide price he is giving on the home to be sold by deadline sale on November 20, is in the early to mid $2 million range.