The beauty of a striking Auckland house now on the market might be eclipsed by one of its most famous tenants: British action star Jason Statham. The tough man of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Transporter and the Fast and Furious franchise lived there with fiancé Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in 2016 while he was filming the hit shark pic, The Meg. Breathless locals reported spotting him at the local cafe.
The house at 20 Rawene Avenue, Westmere, is one of New Zealand's most striking houses, a concrete, cedar and steel structure perched on the edge of the Waitemata.
It is being marketed by Pene Milne of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty and has been attracting enquiries from architecture buffs from all around the world.
Certainly with its three metre movie screen and 60” TV the house was set up for a true movie experience. It was also mentioned for other touring stars such as Justin Beiber and Adele, but it was always meant as a family home, not a celebrity pad.
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The extraordinary house, completed in 2011, was the result of nearly five year’s work by the owners, their designers and builders. They secured two side-by-side sections on the tightly held street between Herne Bay and Westmere to create a 1978 sq m site and then briefed Ponting Fitzgerald Architects for a house that connected land to the sea.
The 20 Rawene Ave house, designed by Ponting Fitzgerald Architects, combines rough-shuttered concrete, fine steel and timber. It was completed in 2011. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Ponds and streams weave from the front gate to the infinity edge pool overlooking the sea, telling the story of connecting land to sea. Photo / Ted Baghurst
The layers of detail start with the story of the “streams”, ponds that start at the front of the house and connect all the way to the sea, weaving inside and outside the house, finishing at the 17 m infinity pool that hovers over the water.
Ponting used concrete cast in rough cedar for the soaring walls, fine steel joinery for the windows and crafted cedar for the ceilings and finishes.
“Concrete earths the house,” he says. “Then the cedar forms wrap and define the spaces to be playful. The sun plays off the concrete walls.”
Into the hard edges he inserted modern Italian glass chandeliers, finely crafted joinery in the kitchens and bathrooms, wood and basalt stone flooring through to the terrace.
Ponting says that the manipulation of the volumes – some soaring, wide and light-filled, others smaller and more intimate – make the 733 sq m seem playful, fun and welcoming, a friendly house, even.
The kitchen includes a scullery for catering events, high end Falcon and Miele appliances and there are three wine fridges distributed through the house. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Milne says that the width of the site gives stunning views of the harbour (and the best sunsets she’s ever seen) from all the principal rooms. From an enclosed entrance at the street – past those streams – Ponting’s design directs visitors to the lofty reception rooms. Living dining and kitchen all open to the terraces, pool and afternoon light. But he’s also tucked sunny morning spots off the kitchen and a charming pair of double bedrooms with shared en-suite and sunken television space on the eastern side of the house for the kids (a fourth guest suite is privately situated on the western corner).
The northwest facing living rooms and terraces get the best sunset views in the city, says New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty agent Pene Milne, who has had interest in the property from around the world. Photo / supplied
The family has thoroughly worked the house for how they live. Instead of a media room buried away from the main action, Ponting gave them an intimate theatre space off the main living room that can be closed off, but mostly stays connected. A music room opens to its own amphitheatre on the terrace.
Naturally the crafted kitchen and its adjoining catering scullery is packed with top end appliances - Falcon cookers, Miele fridges, three Liebherr wine fridges and three dishwashers. As well as a bathroom, the pool pavilion features an Electrolux outdoor cooker.
The double width site means all the principal living rooms, as well as the upstairs master bedroom suite and library, get sun and sea views. Photo / supplied
The basement of the house has a cool lad pad: a concrete lined den in what had planned to be service areas became a fully equipped bar, fireplace and TV and pool table make this a pad that any movie star would have adored.
The top floor is devoted to a master bedroom suite with panoramic view, luxury bathroom and dressing room with a beautiful library next door for what Milne rightly dubs “a peaceful and inspirational place to work.”
Add in utility spaces, generous garaging, car court, security and smart systems, and designer, owner and agent can rightly say it is the best of modern architecture.
“In 20 or 30 years time, the bones and architecture will be classic and elegant. This doesn’t date.
“It’s a very courageous house to build. The simplicity is in the complexity.”
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