Family reap benefit of country lifestyle

GOOD MOVE: Jacinda Hills with her two children McKenna, 2, and Cole, 9 months. Mrs Hills says she and her husband Darin made the right decision to buy a rural property.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

Jacinda Hills believes she is living the lifestyle dream

"It's so very cool and like winning Lotto ... we are living the dream."

Brought up in the Mackenzie Country, in the heart of the South Island, Mrs Hills said she wanted her own children to experience wide open spaces and being part of a rural community.

She and husband Darin sold their urban Pyes Pa home in four days, one year ago, after listing it on Trade Me, and stumbled across the 6000sq m site in rural Pyes Pa that was part of a farmland subdivision.

The couple crunched their numbers but knew it would be a good investment.

"We thought land is never going to go down in value ... it is going to set us up for the future. We are actually quite lucky to be on a prestigious road."

Two months ago they moved into part one of their project - dubbed a shed-ansion by friends because "it's a very flash shed".

"It has been specifically designed around country living with polished concrete floors and a separate laundry, that has the main living upstairs."

Now the family was reaping the benefits although Mrs Hills said they knew exactly what they were getting themselves in for and were used to animals and agricultural practises.

"We know the reality of living in the country. It is not quiet and peaceful all of the time, it is quite noisy, dusty and muddy but that is the great thing, that is terrific, that is what it is all about."