Julie Webster admits the large lifestyle property she owns with partner Alan Dyer in Henderson is somewhat hard to find for townies. "But that's nice because it makes it so calm and private," she says "As soon as we saw it, we fell in love with the setting."
Entry from Holdens Rd takes visitors past a scattering of houses and down a private road that winds it way through native bush.
Security gates at the end of the road open to reveal a cream clay-brick house almost castle-like on a hill.
It is surrounded by expansive rolling lawns and terraced gardens — and the sheer grandeur of its proportions makes it a breathtaking sight.
The house was 4 years old when they bought it. Julie was living in Mission Bay and Alan in the Waitakeres, and with six children between them, they wanted a lifestyle block where they could merge their two families.
They've made a raft of changes in the 11 years they've lived here.
A new two-bedroom wing upstairs for Alan's children brings the number of bedrooms to six — or seven if you count the soundproofed home theatre above the garage, which they use as a bedroom.
Hardly a room remained untouched as they realigned spaces to make them flow better.
