My House, My Castle

Something a little different for this blog entry.  I've been thinking a lot about the places I've lived over the past 40 years (41 in less than a month), so I figured I might share a little about each one.  In fact, I might even rate them to see which was the best and worst accommodation I've resided.  The end results may (not) shock you (if you know me personally).

Note: I will not be mentioning the places I've stayed in between entries #2 & #3 as they were meant to be temporary anyway.  My name was never on the lease for those 2 places, so they don't count.

#1 - Linwood (1981 to 1993).

As I go into this one, I may mention some exact addresses of blocks of flats I lived in, but not the number of which I was in (e.g. Living at number 30 <insert street name here> instead of 30a <street name>).  But when it comes to houses, I will either give you the street name or just the suburb.  In the case of this first entry, I will simply state that I lived in Linwood.  The reason is because I loved this house so much, I like to think that 'maybe' I might be able to move back into it sometime in the future.  Not a realistic approach considering the current housing market - and, not to mention, my income - but you never know what the future may bring, right?  So, with that said, let's get started.

I lived at the Linwood address from the time I left Christchurch Women's Hospital after birth right up to around July 1993, only just after the halfway mark of my last year at Woolston Primary School.  That's a little over 12 years of my life (about 12.25, to be precise).  There are so many memories to come out of that house, several blog entries would need to cover them all.  And I have to say, most of them were positive on my part.  That house, along with the surrounding neighbourhood, are still cherished by me to this day.  I've been in the area a number of times in recent years, mainly for nostalgic and research purposes (I was planning on having a picnic for my 40th birthday at the local park back in 2021, but that was relocated due to the lack of public toilet facilities).

Truth is, if I'd known earlier just how much I'd miss this house, I probably wouldn't have left.  However, I was 12 at the time, so that wouldn't have been possible.

From an adult's point of view, this 3-bedroom house would actually be ideal for my current situation.  One of the main reasons I could see myself going back there, if I could.  It's not just about the nostalgia trips!  I won't go into great detail about it, but we kind of need the room at the moment, and a house like this would be perfect.  It's also in a quiet neighbourhood, away from the noisy traffic, and from what I could tell the last time I was in the area, the people currently living there seem quiet too.

My rating for the Linwood house - 10/10.  You can't beat that - and nothing else will.  So, where to next?

#2 - Major Hornbrook Road, Mount Pleasant (1993 to 1999).

By the time we left Linwood, it was just my parents and I.  The reason we left isn't entirely clear to me, but I do have some ideas (which I won't be sharing here).  But we decided to move up onto the Port Hills, particularly around the Ferrymead/Heathcote region.  As you cross the bridge that leads to the turn-off towards Ferrymead Heritage Park, you see a road that goes up St. Andrew's Hill.  Eventually, you come to Major Hornbrook Road, along which was a house that we moved into, only 2 doors down from Mount Pleasant School.  This would be where I spent the entirety of my high school years, plus about a year or so on top of that.

I can say this much about the house on here because a few years after the quakes in 2011, that house has since been demolished and replaced by a new home.  It is the only house I'd lived in that no longer exists.

The old house was a 2-storey building with an odd feature - the front door was a part of the upper level.  As you would go up the driveway, you would see a tall stairwell along the front of the complex leading to the door.  Also, you saw a small door at the front of the lower level, which was actually a storage cupboard.  I don't know how many did, but I'm sure anyone who came to see us first time probably knocked on that door and wondered why we couldn't hear them.  In their defense, that was a pretty dumb design on the architect's part.  In hindsight, we probably should've put a sign on that door...

In the lower level of the house was the laundry, 2 bedrooms, a cupboard and a small room that was used for crafts, a wine cellar, whatever.  I don't actually know.  It was dark, cold and kind of creepy with the big hole leading to underneath the house (the hole was eventually blocked off).  Everything else was upstairs - the main hallways (yes, 2 - it used to be split into 2 units/flats), a bedroom and bathroom in the front, a lounge that led to the metal spiral staircase that went downstairs, a small dining area at the end of the hallway connected to the kitchen, another lounge along with a bedroom and bathroom at the back, and the 2 toilets off the kitchen/dining area (not an ideal location) - side-by-side.  And, of course, the house was surrounded by many areas for gardening.

Overall, the house was ideal for a medium+ size family, and good for people who like nature (gardening) and great views from the hill.  As for the view, a lot of people have a nice view of the city from up the hills.  We, however, had a view of New Brighton and McCormick's Bay.  I would often break out the binoculars and watch the cars drive over the causeway (sounds boring when I put it that way).

This house had its fair share of great memories, but it also had some negative ones too.  It was, of course, the last house we lived in before my dad left us for the US (another story for later, if I feel like it).

My rating for the house would probably be 7.5 out of 10.  Would I live there again, if it was still standing?  No.  That house represented an era that didn't end so well.  Besides, as nice of a house as it was, I don't like how close the toilets were to the kitchen (this will be a common problem in future residences, by the way).

#3 - Colombo Street, Beckenham (1999 to 2000).

This would be my last residence where I lived with immediate family members.  By this time, it was just my mother and I.  Dad had already split from the country, only to briefly visit me 5 years later during the one and only time he'd do so...  Anyway, moving on.

As you would expect, being on the city's main road wasn't exactly quiet during the day or on late night Friday/Saturday (remember the "Colombo Run"?).  But with that aside, it was quite a nice place.

This places is a unit that's part of 3 others, with a courtyard in the middle (part of the driveway) that led to the 4 garages and front doors of each one.  We were right on the street.  Each unit being 2-storeys high with the laundry (with its own toilet), lounge and kitchen all on the ground floor, while the bathroom, another toilet, 2 bedrooms and a study were all upstairs.  The master bedroom had the added feature of a balcony outside double-doors, which can be seen from the street.  It was actually quite nice, despite the location.  If anything, the location was probably its main setback, if not the only one.  Being a unit among 3 others, you'd expect to be connected to the others and put up with the noise coming from them.  However, this wasn't the case as the only physical connections to the other units were the garages.  Great for storing cars, other belongings and soundproofing.

I'd rate this place a 9/10.  Points off for the local noise levels.  Great place to live in, and the toilets were distant from the kitchen.

#4 - Whitmore Street, Richmond (Christchurch, not the town near Nelson) (2000 to 2001).

My first flat after gaining my independence.  Ideal for a first-timer, which I just happened to be at the time.  A simple layout:

One bedroom, a lounge/dining area, kitchen/laundry, and bathroom/toilet.  You read that correctly.  The kitchen and laundry were in the same area.  There's no room anywhere else in this flat to put your washing machine and/or dryer.  It was placed along the opposite wall to the kitchen sink and oven.  I'm not even joking.

It was a great flat for entertaining guests.  However, I seldom invited anyone to come over while I was there.  The reason being that I was a bit nervous about having noise control called on me or something ridiculous like that.  Which is why I never offered to use it as a place for my band at the time (Driftwood) to do rehearsals there.  In hindsight, I'm sure a group of 2 guitarists & 1 bassist would've been perfectly fine there (we had no drummer).

The rating for this flat is probably 7.  Not the greatest place, but it's definitely not the worst.  I couldn't live there again now though.  It's just too small.  Also...the toilet's too close to the kitchen.

#5 - Maxwell Street, Riccarton (2001 to 2002).

The first flat that involved a flatmate (the American version is roommate).  My good friend you'll probably read a lot about in these blogs, Forbes was my first flatmate.  I had a 1-year lease at the Whitmore Street flat, but I didn't live there for the full 12 months (September to August).  The only reason I got away with that is because the landlord of that property owned this one.  So, it was a straight transfer.  Forbes and I lived here for roughly 15 months from about August 2001 to around November 2002.

It wasn't too bad.  A good amount of room, etc.  Loved the lounge and kitchen space.  Probably the best features, to be honest.  Although, I did like the built-in desk in my bedroom.  The main setbacks though were:

• Way too close to the other flats - My bedroom was right next to the back flat's lounge (and Forbes' room was next to their kitchen), and the walls were thin.  You heard almost everything...  (no comment).  The flat upstairs from ours wasn't much better as I could hear them walking around sometimes.  Our lounge was connected to the front flat's first bedroom, but we didn't hear them (thankfully).
• It is right across the road from Westfield - Maxwell Street may not be a main road, but it might as well be since the carpark entrance is right there in front of where we were.  I do, however, have the benefit of not having worked there (yet) while we were living at this flat.  If we had, I think I'd probably dislike this flat even more today.
• The toilet is too close to the kitchen - Told you you'd be seeing this often.

Overall, I'd rate this place a 6.  Even though it had its issues, it's still not the worst I've experienced.  It's just a shame about the location and how close together everything is.

#6 - 281 Riccarton Road (2002 to 2012).

Upon leaving Maxwell Street, I sought independence again.  I guess as far back as then, I must've realised that I had a bit of an introvert side to me.  Forbes is a good friend.  We parted flats on good terms.  Just so you know.

With the help of Housing NZ, I moved into a complex a few doors down from the Antonio Hall (which has in recent years been gutted with fire on 2 separate and equally suspicious occasions).  Those of you who have driven down Riccarton Road have probably seen a residential area slightly off the street with 3 tall green buildings, each of which are 3-storeys high.  Well, I was in one of the flats in one of those 3 buildings.  As I said before, I won't reveal what number I was in, but yeah.  This would be my place of residence for the next decade.  Yeah, that's right.  I was in that place for 10 years.

While that may sound impressive, the living situation, however, was not.  There are 3 different size flats in those buildings.  The largest being a few bedrooms in size, the second being slightly smaller (maybe 1 or 2 bedrooms?), and the smallest - a bedsit (basically, everything in one room, except the toilet/shower).  I bet you can guess which one I ended up with.

Of course it was the bedsit.  A lounge/bedroom/kitchen with a toilet/shower room to the side of the laundry area, which is basically the front door area as well.  Nothing to it, really.  Not that great either.  A person like me that has a surprising amount of belongings for one person is not suited for such a cramped space.  So you're probably wondering, why the heck was I there for 10 years?  I have 7 words for you - "Don't ask me, I don't know either!"  Well, it was probably a money issue, actually.  When I lived here (for the first 9 years anyway), the income I had (unemployed and employed) had an impact on the rent I was paying.  The unemployment benefit I received at the time meant that I was only paying about $33 per week, but when I got a job down the road at the mall, I was earning more and therefore paid more rent as a result.  As for the 10th year living there, Aliesha and I got married, and the money situation would change again - to a point where Housing NZ said we earned too much for it to be adjusted and decided to charge us retail price - a price that, by the way, is way too high for a tiny bedsit like this one.  Apart from its size, it's probably one of the reasons we tried to leave as soon as possible.  Didn't know it would take a year to do it though, but when we did, we did it as fast as possible.  We didn't want anything to do with the place once we'd gone.

The rating, as you'd expect, is a low one.  I give this location a 3.5.  While it's suitable for a single person, it's still not ideal.  Maybe if the person doesn't own a lot and doesn't mind noisy neighbours, being in Riccarton and all kinds of other nonsense the area has to offer.  You wanted to know which place had the lowest rating.  Well, here it is.

At least the toilet was a tolerable distance from the kitchen.

#7 - Hornby (2012 to present).

For obvious reasons, I won't be going into a heavy amount of details about this one since I still live here.  All I can say is that it's near some main roads, which can be noisy.  Apart from being close to surrounding flats, the traffic is probably my main issue here.  Otherwise, it's not a bad little place.  It has 2 bedrooms, bathroom, a lounge, kitchen, laundry and toilet (and yes, it's a little close to the kitchen for comfort).  I think that should do it for details.  Don't want any stalkers knocking at the door.  I don't even like having salespeople stop by (thankfully, the pandemic has slowed that problem down).

I'd rate this place about a 7.5 to an 8.  I've enjoyed married life here, and will continue to at the next place we move to, naturally.

So, there you have it.  A very brief history of the houses/flats I've lived in.  I can go into detail of some of the experiences I've had in each one, but obviously, this blog entry is very long without those stories, so maybe another day?  I'm sure you'll be looking forward to what's to come in future.