If you want to live in Wellington in a house that's
slowed the traffic for over 30 years, you're in luck. This waterfront house
designed by Fritz Eisenhofer is up for rent (or was when we wrote this post).
With its single living space backed by the kitchen and utilities and a two
storey living area, what's not to like? Although rather blocked now by the next
door garage and minus its original decorative screen, this Eisenhofer house is
still one of the most stylish in Wellington.
Austrian-trained Eisenhofer was also known for his
design of deeply cool (in the day) coffee bars (or lounges as they were then)
like The Matterhorn and Chez Lilly. Most famously he fashioned Suzy’s CoffeeLounge out of what had been the Hansel and Gretel clothing shop in 1964. Suzy’s
was a major Wellington hangout for years and the subject of a well-known RitaAngus painting.
Eisenhofer was an architect with skills that
encompassed ecological disciplines alongside stylish fantasy. Some of his homes
make you feel like you're on a cruise ship all look-up and look-down views with
plants, pools, curves and lots of glass. Maybe it was these more daring efforts
that sidelined Eisenhofer so that he does not yet have the reputation he
deserves as an important talent who introduced a new perspective on the modern
to New Zealand.
