When Liz Ashworth and her partner came to view this waterfront apartment, they walked straight through to the deck and said: “We’re buying it.”
“What’s not to love?” says Liz as she leans against the balcony and looks across to Viaduct Harbour.
“We call it our flat screen TV. There’s always something to look at.”
Liz, who owns a fashion boutique, says once she and her partner had seen the outlook they didn’t need to look at anything else, though they were thrilled with everything about the apartment.
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Everything is spacious and wide, she says, from the hallway to the large kitchen. While the apartment — on the fourth of five floors — is easy living, the large deck is what draws everyone.
The view takes in the mini park-like grounds below where people walk their dogs (and which Liz calls the “front lawn”) and pans north across from the Harbour Bridge to Takapuna, Bayswater and Stanley Point.
On the other side is the city skyline, with glimpses of notable buildings — but the postcard water view is the highlight and can’t be built out.
“It’s ever-changing,” Liz says. “The dragon boat racing was out here, the waka festival was out here. I woke up one morning and there were tents out on the lawn for the dragon boat teams who were doing their thing.”
While the location and view are highlights, the apartment is so spacious, she says. “Usually you don’t get such a big kitchen in an apartment ... this is a full-size house kitchen.”
Off the hallway is an office desk, a large main bathroom with laundry, and bedroom with room for a double-sized bunk bed.
The hallway, which can be closed off, leads to the dining area and a lounge with bifolds to the deck.
A floor-to-ceiling door in the lounge opens to the master bedroom with en suite and private access to the deck.
The deck is “massive” for an apartment, with ample room for a barbecue, a table and chairs plus lounge chairs — there were 40 people out here for a recent birthday gathering.
The Point apartment complex is also fantastic, Liz says.
She learned not all apartments are created equal: “This one is just classy with the statues and the wide landings.
“We looked at other apartments and we thought ‘no, this is primo’.”
There is a heated lap pool, a sauna and a gym, and because the complex is so high-end you often don’t see the other owners, she says.
Liz and her partner downsized from their house in Hillsborough about a year ago. “We like the food festivals and the things that are going on in the city.
“We wanted to live in town, and we’re walkers so we walk everywhere — to Ponsonby, to Parnell, to Newmarket.”
The ferries are a short walk as are the trains at Britomart. Nearby Hobson St takes you to motorway links, and there are vibrant shops, cafes, bars and restaurants on the doorstep.
The power bill is low because the apartment is so warm. And when the real estate agent said there were no flies, Liz was sceptical.
But it’s true, she says. “Is it because they don’t fly up this high?
“That was a fantastic bonus, when you’re having a barbecue or something.”
The apartment is leasehold and Liz says this makes it more affordable.
Buying leasehold suits people who are perhaps downsizing and are able to invest wisely to cover costs, she says.
Liz has loved “everything” about living here and is moving only to be nearer family. She has not lost the feeling she had that first time she walked in: “Every time I walk back into this house I think ‘oh my’. It wows you every single time.”
415/121 CUSTOMS ST WEST, AUCKLAND CITY
2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 carparks
SIZE (more or less): 92sq m.
PRICE: $1.395 million.
INSPECT: By appointment.
SCHOOLS: Auckland Girls’, Ponsonby Intermediate, Freemans Bay School, Western Springs College.
CONTACT: Gabrielle Hoffmann, Barfoot & Thompson, 021 021 666 11; Nicola Hunt, 021 303 180.
