David Parr hasn’t just taught art - he’s used his family home as the canvas to create it with decadently rich colour and paint effects inside.
Kings College art and art history teacher David and wife Jane bought this solid stucco Remuera home 27 years ago, transforming its interior into a colourful sensory bonanza.
David’s even hand painted the ceilings with skilful renditions of clouds or effects such as marbling.
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Jane says: “It was almost entirely original, complete with meat safe and without colour when we bought it but it was what we could afford at the time.
“I think we turned an ordinary house with some nice features into a bit of a fantasy.”
David, whose degree was in painting, understands the home they’ve raised two now-adult children in was built in the 1920s and extended forwards in the 1950s.
Visitor entry is elegant through a front wrought iron gate and along a path serenaded by pleached trees. The sizeable covered porch-entranceway has become their Moroccan-inspired outdoor room, an all-weather alfresco entertaining alternative to the courtyard nearby connected to the house by a pergola dripping with yellow Banksia roses.
A big dining room with some of the home’s original polished wood floors and views south-east is resplendent in red including its painted ceiling with marbling effect around the painted plaster ceiling dome.
David says: “I like sitting here reading because I find it a very calming place under its big domed ceiling at the centre of the house.”
The roomy lounge next door has a terracotta tone extending to its painted ceiling, its wood-burning fireplace tiled in a mosaic of mirrored shards.
David says: “I got a big mirror and smashed it and took the seven years back luck.”
The kitchen which they upgraded after moving in teams floors painted jade with tutu pink walls, a built-in table and fine views. Up the colourfully painted hallway is the roomy master bedroom with ensuite with bath, French doors outside and gentle hues.
Jane says: “I love waking up here to the clouds painted on the ceiling.”
Two more bedrooms off the hall were painted and repainted to suit children Emily and D’arcy’s changing tastes as they grew, although parental wisdom overruled D’arcy’s request for black. One’s now in tones of green while the other sports paintwork in pink and blue and they’re serviced by a family bathroom in white and tutu pink.
Downstairs’ semi-self-contained setup of a bedroom extending into living space with a bathroom was vied for during teenage years. It’s fronted by double garaging with off-street parking out front.
David’s skilful painting complemented by Jane’s eye for styling has created a home layered in character although they’re philosophical that new owners may paint it all out white.
The fully-fenced 687m² gardens including lawns offering space for a trampoline or pool are beautifully manicured, adding to the colour and interest while creating a somewhat European ambience.
They’re two minutes from a cluster of Remuera cafes and shops, handy to the motorway and College Rifles’ multi-sport facilities and gym. Jane walks rescue dog Charlie nearby at Waiatarua Reserve.
After lots of hard work and renovations, including re-roofing, the Parrs are downsizing.
Agent Carita Fenning of Ray White says: “This is a home with a heart in a beautiful garden, handy to everything.”
20 Haast St in Remuera, Auckland is scheduled to auction at 6pm Thursday 28th November 2019 (unless sold prior).
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