Seafront home for less than $1m? This one comes with stunning Mid-century makeover

When Sandy Gibbs and Chris Williams first walked into this house perched above the rocks in Island Bay, Wellington there was an open Playboy magazine on the coffee table, and bars over the windows at the back.

“Aesthetically, it was not us at all,” Gibbs says. “It was a bit grim, but we just loved the feeling of the place, and we thought we could make it ours.”

When Sandy Gibbs and Chris Williams first walked into this house perched above the rocks in Island Bay, Wellington there was an open Playboy magazine on the coffee table, and bars over the windows at the back.

“Aesthetically, it was not us at all,” Gibbs says. “It was a bit grim, but we just loved the feeling of the place, and we thought we could make it ours.”

And, of course, there was that uninterrupted view straight out to sea.

Williams designs and makes Mid-century furniture, and Gibbs collects Crown Lynn [ceramics] and similar items. “So we had a lot of Mid-century stuff going on,” Williams says. “When we came to do our renovation, that was the obvious way for us to go.”

The kitchen could have come straight out of a classic Kiwi home in the ‘50s, but it was designed by the couple, with a kitchen designer helping with the ergonomics and draw up the plans.

“At first she couldn’t get her head around it,” Gibbs says. “But we got there in the end. She found this guy over in the Wairarapa who could actually make it.

“We didn’t want any of the mod cons in it at all. We wanted it to be true to the ‘50s. None of the drawers have runners in them. And we didn’t want a templated kitchen - like the ones with screw holes down the side for adjusting.

“It’s all plywood, and the interiors are gorgeous. The orange bench is Formica and we just absolutely love it. It was one of the things that appealed straight away. We were very careful in putting together the aesthetic.”

Williams says a different tradesperson installed the kitchen. “After he installed it, he stood back and said, you know, I pull these old kitchens out every week. It’s kind of weird to be putting one in.”

The kitchen also features traditional overhead cabinets supported by a stainless steel pole - installed at a height that doesn’t block the view. “That was always the pièce de résistance. We were going to have that if nothing else.”

Other Mid-century features include Orla Kiely wallpapers and a colourful patchwork Marmoleum floor.

“Chris designed the pattern for the floor,” Gibbs says. “We were strongly advised by everybody not to have tiles in the wet areas, like the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, so they are ‘off the roll’.”

There were originally three bedrooms, but because two of them were quite small, the couple combined them into one large room, which has become their office. “And we snuck in a bit of space to make a walk-in wardrobe off the master bedroom.”

Another colourful feature is the staircase, which has different coloured risers, each printed with the name of a local street in Island Bay.

The couple say they have never had a problem with storm tides: “The sea has never come across the road, and there has been no flooding at all. People think, ‘oh you’re on the south coast and it’s prone to flooding’, but where we are, we’re completely protected by this rocky outcrop in front of our house.”

They say the view is equally dramatic when the weather is calm or stormy, and they will miss it. But they are selling to move to Central Otago - “pinot country”.

The property, at 158 The Esplanade, Island Bay, Wellington, is listed with Mat Baxter and Aaron Nation of Lowe & Co, with enquiries invited over $845,000.