Driving past this home hundreds of times, Claire Prangley ached to check it out, entranced by the impeccable craftmanship and a mid-century meets Palm Springs-type vibe she could make out behind its secure gate.
“I found it intriguing,” she says. The graphic designer and her dentist husband Luke used to live on this street.
Two years ago the stars aligned; they’d needed a larger home having just had their third child and 118 The Circle in Manly came onto the market.
“It was everything I’d thought it would be with a great layout and no expense spared. It had been built by a talented builder as his own family home,” Claire says. “It’s such a beautiful, light-filled and open house where I can easily keep an eye from indoors on the children in the pool.”
Start your property search
The 2014 home built on 873sqm of land on the flat in Manly features textured brick and varying width vertical cedar on its exterior. Behind its auto gate there’s a boat park bolstering the internal-access double garage. Its shelving is symptomatic of abundant storage, much appreciated by neat-freak Luke.
The textured brick and cedar continue inside, providing continuity, texture and interest. The home has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two garages.
“Having three children, it’s fantastic having lots of different areas so everyone feels they can have their own space. I love morning coffee in the lounge, enjoying the all-day sun you get in there and watching pool reflections dance across the ceiling, while the kids are happy in their own play area.”
The open-plan kitchen-dining-family room with double oven, scullery and a cafe-style seating area with built-in bench seating flows out to the pool-side area. As well as the second living area-kids zone near the lounge, there’s another living space in the pool-house.
The master suite with walk-in wardrobe and sophisticated ensuite admires the heated salt-water pool, opening wide to the decking. There’s also a dedicated spa pool area, level lawn for play and a bore for filling the pool and watering the subtropical planting.
Three other bedrooms accompany a smart family bathroom, a powder room and separate laundry.
“It’s all been done beautifully; the LouvreTec front gate, the outdoor lighting, beautiful tiling and the fireplace accompanied by central heating,” says Claire.
The couple have repainted and added designer light fittings, wooden venetians and skylight covers. The home is great for entertaining and its pool often amuses droves of neighbourhood kids after school.
Claire loves the location too, close to Whangaparaoa Primary, the dairy and the beach.
However, she wants their children to grow up with horses as she did so they’re relocating to the countryside, wishing they could take this home with them.
Harcourts agent Karen Franklin, who is marketing this property, says, “This one-of-a-kind family sanctuary built by an incredibly talented young builder is second to none, built with extraordinary thought and craftmanship.”
The home will be sold at auction on May 9.
