Ellis family plan a 'simple' island home

Marc Ellis will leave his radio job to spend more time with his family.

Former All Black and radio host Marc Ellis has the green light to build a luxury beach house overlooking the Hauraki Gulf.

The Auckland Council has approved plans for the 290sq m five-bedroom, six-bathroom home with a swimming pool, gym and spot for the boat on Waiheke Island.

Ellis and jewellery designer wife Agustina Mon bought the property on the hillside in Matiatia Bay in January for $1,650,000.

The single-storey T-shaped holiday home is designed to make the most of 270-degree views of Auckland, the Gulf and Matiatia Bay.

Files lodged with the council describe the home as a "simple honest rural building ... simple and timeless and elegant, made with high quality materials that sit seamlessly into this highly attractive coastal landscape setting".

Each of the five bedrooms has an en suite and the master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and commanding views over the gulf.

A separate building beside the house includes a large covered "fire nook", a large swimming pool and the fifth bedroom/gym.

The large site has a protected native reserve and is understood to contain two archeological sites - thought to be Maori cooking or rubbish pits. Recent tests on heritage values of the sites were inconclusive but both areas are away from the large building platform.

Ellis announced this month he planned to leave his radio host job at More FM on October 30 to spend more time with his family.

"Sofia and Tomas are starting to remember things now, so I want them enjoying Daddy at home in the morning and full of energy," he told the NZ Herald.