[ad_1]
Walking past 22 Chamberlain Street, you’d never know the tropical oasis that was waiting for you at the back door.
But this Grey Lynn villa’s renovation is an inventive lesson in utilising low maintenance landscaping for lush effect.
Designed to bring in a breezy Balinese vibe, this four-bedroom-plus-office home has enough room for a whole family, minus all the maintenance.
Intended as an urban escape, the backyard has been transformed “with no expense spared” into a stunning, resort-inspired space that takes the term ‘staycation’ to the next level by forgoing all grass for a poolscape plus jacuzzi.
Bayleys
This Grey Lynn villa’s transformation begs the question, do you really need grass at all?
“The colours had a lot to do with it, the client loves the colour, teal, and he loved that whole paua blue feel,” says Jules Moore, landscape designer of A Touch of the Tropics nursery.
“It was all about the pool.”
Working alongside interior designer Hamish Dodd of Dodd and Dodd, Moore and her team worked to create an environment that was both “seamless” and “a place of beauty”.
“Successful subtropical gardeners are all about layering,” says Moore. “The more layers you can have, the more three-dimensional it feels, the better at looks.”
Bayleys
With a love for the calming colour of teal, landscape designer Moore took inspiration from the vendor’s teal furniture to marry the indoors with the outdoors.
Normal eyesores like pool equipment, pumps and the filtration system for the pool were dug down and hidden underneath the deck. Special plants such as the Costa Rican Bamboo Cane Palm, Chamaedorea Costaricana, and other hardy subtropical plants were chosen for their straight-growing and water tolerant properties, to not have roots disturbing the pool while enduring consistent splashback.
The renovation’s star, that all important pool, was individually hand-laid and grouted to create a glittering azure effect.
Complemented by a contemporary renovation throughout that retains character charm such as Victorian mouldings and timber floors, it’s an altogether tasteful treatment that speaks of Grey Lynn glamour.
“People appreciate the atrium style ceilings throughout the living dining kitchen area, and the skylights that orientate to the north, which allow for plenty of natural light,” says listing agent Luke McCaw of Bayleys.
Bayleys
Bifold doors mean that the home’s primary living area can be opened up to bring in the outdoors.
“That whole deck area is just a beautiful summer escape. The bifold doors open up to both the east and north. On a beautiful day, like right now, that whole area will be opened up pretty seamlessly the inside, out. It has incredible entertaining and social spaces.”
Now for sale, the owners are keen to tie up loose ends and embark to join family in Australia. Whilst the home has obvious appeal to families, the home also offers flexibility to professionals who’d like to have home premises or down-sizers who are ready to say goodbye to lawn mowing.
“It may appeal to down-sizers who value that the majority of the home is over one level, and the outdoors is very low maintenance. It’s downsizing from a week to week maintenance point of view, but not giving up the quality of space,” says McCaw.
“It’s sizeable, it’s obviously a large home for Grey Lynn.”
Bayleys
The office with custom cabinetry is part of the separately lockable and accessible ground floor, which also contains a bedroom, living space and bathroom.
“The ground floor can be made secure from the top floor, and also has its own entrance from the outside. It could be a work from home space or maybe the next owner may want it as Airbnb or guest accommodation.”
“The vendor specifically wanted a lovely environment to work from, hence the bespoke cabinetry which has been done to a really high, tasteful standard.”
The home will go to auction on October 4.
[ad_2]