2 days Ago By No Author
Two completed villas inspired by the identical Seven Sisters workers’ cottages with eight left to build.The original ‘Seven Sisters’ workers’ cottages on Pulham Road, built in 1910.The kitchen comes with a stone benchtop.
Laurie Healy loves the tiles in his bathroom as “they’re an unusual feature but fit the style of the house and the time”.Laurie Healy says his villa on Pulham Road reminds him of his grandmother’s historic home.The original cottages that lined Wilson, McKinney and Pulham Roads were purpose-built for the influx of labourers who came to Warkworth attracted by the burgeoning lime and cement industry in the late 1880s and early 1900s.
This mini-housing boom also saw seven identical houses built in 1910 to rent to workers, and these became known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ (MM, Mar 2, 2011).Only one of the original cottages remains, but their legacy is being kept alive in the form of 10 replica villas being built on Pulham Road by developers Aztek Projects.Like the ‘Seven Sisters’ cottages that inspired them, the houses will be nearly identical – apart from one being built on a corner site.
Aztek Projects’ Tresta Cull, who is developing the villas with her husband John, says they wanted to pay homage to Warkworth.“There are a lot of character homes and cute villas in the area, and then we discovered the Seven Sisters cottages on Pulham Road, so we thought we’d base the project on that,” she says.“The original houses were actually a little bit further along Pulham Road.
I believe there’s one left on the site, one door down from us at 96 Pulham Road.”While the original workers’ cottages were pretty basic, their 21st century counterparts have all the amenities you’d expect from a contemporary new build.“They take design cues from the Seven Sisters houses so they look like a villa on the outside, but on the inside they’re comfortable, modern homes.
And they’re low maintenance,” Cull saysAccessed on Kereru Lane, off Pulham Road, the 10 villas will range in size from approximately 190sqm to 230sqm (including the basement and verandas), and are built to be secure lockup-and-leave homes.“It’s going to be a gated community and will have somebody trimming the hedges along the front of the villas just to keep everything looking really nice, and to give it that cottagey feel.“All the houses have got parking behind them so that keeps all the cars off the road and also helps make it secure,” she saysTwo deluxe villas with four bedrooms have already been built, complete with stone benchtops, feature walls and internal glass doors to a media room – both can incorporate a lift at a later stage, which won’t be available as an option in the other villas.
There will be also be one unique three-bedroom, standalone villa with parking for a boat or motorhome.The remaining seven homes will be almost identical to the deluxe villas, but slightly smaller at 190sqm, with three bedrooms and more outdoor space going out from the veranda.Cull says so far they’ve sold one and one other is on the market – its listing on Trade Me says enquiries over $1.
35 million.“They’re not moving as fast as we had hoped, but I just think it’s the market at the moment. But the feedback we’ve had from locals has been great.
Everybody absolutely loves them.”The villas’ first resident and retiree Laurie Healy moved from Auckland to his new cottage late last year and says they’re a really nice idea.“Around Warkworth, you’ve got a number of lovely old houses, and people look after them.
These villas are in tune with that, they fit in with the character of the area,” he says.“I sit out on the veranda in the morning and have a coffee and talk to everybody as they go up and down Pulham Road. It’s a great spot.
”Pulham Road villas featuresExtra-large double garagingApproximately 190sqm to 220sqm of living spaceSecure gated accessFuture-proofed for a liftFour generously-sized bedroomsSeparate media roomTwo and a half luxury bathroomsExpansive open plan living and dining.
