Timeless Villa.
A thoughtfully remodelled Traditional Villa, reimagined for modern living and graceful retirement.
M O U N T E D E N
This modest renovation reimagined a traditional villa to better suit our clients’ changing lifestyle as they looked ahead to retirement.
Set within Auckland’s Special Character Heritage zone, the home needed to feel easy and comfortable for two, while still being able to open up for visiting family.
We reshaped the interior to create a calmer, more functional flow — making space for quiet moments during the day and gatherings when the house is full. Natural light now fills the living areas, drawn in through new tall windows that frame views to the private garden. A separate guest cottage offers a peaceful retreat for visitors, tucked just a few steps away.
Behind the scenes, the project required careful navigation of heritage and flood-related planning constraints, but the result is a home that feels relaxed, timeless, and ready for the years to come.
The design intent was to blend heritage character with quiet luxury — enhancing light, flow, and liveability while retaining the timeless appeal of the original villa.
As part of the renovation, existing rooms were subtly reconfigured to create a more intuitive layout, with new spaces introduced where they added the most value. Sun-soaked corners were turned into quiet spots for reading or relaxing, while the connection between indoors and the north-facing garden was gently strengthened to make the most of the site.
Thanks to the wonderful team we worked with:
Main Contractor - CM Projects Ltd. (Chris Martin)
Photography - Sam Harnett
Clients Comments
“We met Hilary through our builder Chris Martin who we had engaged to renovate a 1910 villa in Mt Eden. The villa is in a heritage zone and is a return verandah style. The prior modernising not of good quality and had not been well thought out.
Chris Martin wisely advised us to engage Hilary for an initial discussion and ideas.
What a find Hilary has been! The initial outlines for alterations from Hilary were simple, clever, smart, brilliant in fact! - can’t put my finger on the right words. We were very impressed and hired Hilary for the detailed drawings and got on in with the job. Hilary was particular to point us to experts along the way for engineering, RMA expertise, et al.
So with Hilary directing design, Chris organising the build, we have ended up with a great result - a fully renovated villa with the right blend of modern living and the warmth of the villa style taking full advantage of light, aspect and street appeal.
Hilary was wonderful to deal with – always listened, always sympathetic to our requests and mindful of our fear of cost overrun!, always available and, efficient. ”