It's All Ours

‘Ingenious’ and ‘Undaunted’ could be the middle names of these first-home owners who worked wonders on their little Birkdale brick beauty with just $12,000.

- Tina Stephen

1| BACKGROUND

How many times have you driven past a beautiful house and dreamed it could be yours? Many of us harbour house crushes for years, but only a few can boast of spotting their dream home, and owning it a few weeks later.

It was love at first sight when Maiko Nagao Irvine and husband Mike set eyes on the 1940s art deco house which would become their first owned home. Located in Birkdale, Auckland, close to where they both grew up, the building’s picturesque brick facade seemed to call to them. There was just one problem: it wasn’t for sale.

“We were actually at an open home across the road,” remembers Maiko. “We parked our car and, as we were entering, Mike turned around and pointed across the street, and said, ‘Check out that house – would you live there?’ I answered, ‘It would be a dream.’”

Two weeks later, the house came onto the market and Maiko’s dream became a reality.

2| A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Their wish had suddenly come true but Maiko and Mike’s home ownership journey had not been an overnight affair. They had been saving hard for four years after a long spell out of the country. “We travelled the world and lived overseas for seven years; then, after falling pregnant with Kaito, we returned to New Zealand,” says Maiko.

“We were so overwhelmed by the housing market. It took us four years after we got back to finally be in the position to buy our first home. That, plus help from both sides of our family, which we are so very grateful for.”

Finally settled in their first home, Maiko and Mike decided on a different approach to renovating, one with a strong focus on reusing, repurposing and recycling – a philosophy that Maiko, in particular, had grown up with.