Architect Ken Crosson puts his own house on the market after 37 years
Multi award-winning Auckland architect Ken Crosson has listed the family home he has owned for the past 37 years. The 1906 Herne Bay-Ponsonby heritage villa, where he brought up his children, is in the sought-after avenues off Jervois Road. But while it presents a traditional front to the street, the house reflects the architects touch out the back. Two years ago, Crosson replaced a lean-to with his Light Box extension, which has won an NZIA award. This large family living room is defined by a wall of translucent channel glass and a huge, 6.5m-wide glass door that swings in a wide arc to open up an entire wall. Speaking to Stuff last year, Crosson said the new build was designed to be an absolute contrast to all that detail and filigree on the house. READ MORE: * The villa an architect hates to love * Crosson Architects wins Home of the Year with stunning beach house * Amazing Spaces checks out the best Kiwi bach on the Coromandel "We wanted to dissolve the back of the house. It (the door) works like a gate and within it is a series of French doors. It makes you feel totally connected to the garden." A seamless wall of black cabinetry defines the sleek kitchen within the Light Box with integrated appliances, everything is hidden. And the channel glass walls fill the space with light while providing privacy from neighbouring properties. The architect admitted he was never really a villa person and couldnt quite believe he bought the house all those years ago. But he has made it his own, and has found it the perfect blank canvas for his extensive art collection. The four-bedroom house currently features three living areas one of the bedrooms has been reconfigured into a traditional villa sitting room with fireplace. Then there is the new family living area, and a media room on the lower level. The property is listed with Scott and Chloe Wither of Ray White Ponsonby . Scott Wither says potential buyers coming through over the past weekend were in awe of the Light Box. They had never seen anything like it and probably wont again, since it is the architects own project, he says. The property is to be sold through a deadline sale (5 August, 2020). Re the potential sale price of the house, which has a 2017 CV of $2.875 million, Wither says, We are looking for interest in the $3 millions. And Crosson? He is moving on to another project. Watch this space.