Early Group Architects home in Belmont comes to the market

When current owner and architect, Piers Kay bought Skelton Studio House in 2013, he and his wife set to work to restore and modernise it for 21st century living. 

The one level Belmont, North Shore home was originally designed and built in 1954 as a perfect square of 8m x 8m by the highly celebrated Group Architects. It’s now been sympathetically expanded to 110 sqm, in order to accommodate a young family. The restoration updated and expanded every space as well as adding a new primary bedroom and scullery/mudroom, explains the Fearon Hay architect. 

It’s still a compact house and as such, the current owners have made a number of practical space choices, for instance having a kitchen table surrounded by smart custom cabinetry rather than an island. 

“A table is more flexible and relaxed and you have a better relationship with the surrounding spaces than you typically do with an island,” says Piers. 

The bathroom meanwhile has been given contemporary finishes and refined fittings. Some of the bathroom’s key elements - the custom stone vanity and bath -  are on display in the house but easily shielded with sliding, reeded glazed screens for privacy and diffused light when needed.

The floors throughout are pale wide oak, with natural coir at the thresholds and brass inlays, emphasising the grid of the original floor plan. Other features of the home include band sawn timber ceilings, hand plastered walls and cabinetry, and bush hammered stone surfaces, all combining to create a natural, earthy aesthetic. 

While the original house has cedar weatherboards, Piers didn’t want the additional space to replicate and confuse the old with the new, so instead he used expanded mesh to screen the new part of the house, planting Boston Ivy onto it, a vine which changes colour depending on the season. 

“It’s intended to look as though it’s part of the landscape rather than another building,” explains the architect. The addition is subservient to the original home, he stresses, the bedroom addition, for instance, sitting hunkered down into the land to maintain the hierarchy of the original house 

Piers explains what he most likes about the house where he lives with his wife and their young son.

“I think what we most enjoy is how private and light it feels. It has a really strong connection to the gardens, sun and landscape,” says Piers. The gardens surrounding the house, which sits on a 403 sq m site, were designed by landscaper, Jared Lockhart, and have soft edges, no lawns and native planting to provide seasonal colour. 

Most of the walls of the home are glass, opening out to gardens. The newer part of the home is double glazed and the house has a cast iron woodburner for heating in winter.

“In summer it’s a wonderful space to be in, because you just open the whole thing up,” says Piers. 

For potential buyers who are drawn to the house because of its architectural merit but don’t know Belmont well, agent Michael Swarbrick says the North Shore suburb is all about the beaches, the lifestyle and the proximity to the city via the Bayswater or Devonport ferry nearby. The closest beaches to the house are Narrow Neck, Takapuna and St Leonard’s Beach which drops down from Takapuna Grammar nearby, he says. Belmont has primary, intermediate and secondary schools all right there, says Michael. And a favourite spot for a coffee and a treat is Daily Bread in Eversleigh Road, Belmont.

Piers and his wife had thought Skelton Studio House would be their forever home but with a second little one on the way it’s time for a new chapter. So the opportunity is now here for others to come and enjoy this beautifully restored example of New Zealand architecture. 

“The buyer could come from anywhere in the country,” says Michael. “They’ll be someone who is attracted to the design story behind this special property. Because it has two bedrooms, it’s a bit like an apartment so for buyers looking for that style of living, this is a good alternative,” he suggests

This lovely two bedroom Belmont home at 13 Bardia Street will go to auction on October 10.