Perched amidst subtropical palms is Espano, the city's most significant Spanish Mission statement apartments, celebrating nearly a century at the heart of Auckland's creative precinct. Within you'll find an oversized jewel of luxury and historic soul, masterfully renovated to form a single bedroom sanctuary ready to call home.
Conceived in the jazz age, and first owned by the proprietor of the scandalous Dixieland Cabaret nightspot, Espano has been home to the fashionable and artistic since 1928, with just 12 generous apartments across four floors. Then as now, the appeal blends high design with unrivalled location.
Today's owners have restored a wealth of beautiful features - from marble terrazzo flooring, antique art wallpaper, a decadent clawfoot bathtub, to a robust fireplace with unique tiled surround. Crucial modernisation includes a total upgrade of wiring and plumbing, insulated parquet flooring, luxe bathroom fittings and an ingenious bespoke European kitchen. This has been fully opened into the living area, creating an atmosphere of spaciousness and harmony to chime with the high ceilings and all day sun afforded by a northerly outlook that can never be built out.
The showstopper is a thoroughly upgraded roof terrace where residents and guests enjoy a sublime cinematic setting for summer cocktails, as well as a secluded basement courtyard offering natural respite from the heat.
The ground floor apartment benefits from an off-street carpark steps from the newly-fenced frontage, yet Espano is also metres from the restaurants of St Kevin's Arcade, and a moment's stroll from both entrances of the new Karanga-a-Hape train station for connection to the CBD and beyond. Or you may meander down the beautiful adjoining park steps, past the copy of Michelangelo's Moses statue, and through to the Civic Theatre, High Street and onward to the waterfront.