Cottage capers in Totara North

213b Totara North Rd, Kerikeri, Northland. Photo / Supplied

213B TOTARA NORTH RD TOTARA NORTH

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SIZE: Land 5779sq m, house 160sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $365,000. Auction July 15 (unless sold prior).

INSPECT: Saturday 12-1pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: bayleys.co.nz/294146

SCHOOL ZONES: Totara North Primary, Oruaiti Primary, Taipa Area School, Whangaroa College.

CONTACT: Richard Shrimski, Bayleys, ph (09) 407 9221 or 0274 960 968.

FEATURES: Refurbished 1860s kauri villa with spectacular harbour views and modern comforts such as HRV home ventilation system.

Where do you find a lovingly cared for old villa, with a glorious sea view, two minutes from a safe harbour, 20 minutes from Mangonui - arguably the most picturesque village in the far north - and 30 minutes from the Bay of Islands?

The answer is Totara North, a tiny settlement of the shores of the Whangaroa Harbour, north of Kerikeri, where very little happens apart from fishing, boating, diving and enjoying the peace and quiet. The spectacular location and the old villa attracted Monique and Graham Murphy when they were casually looking around for a new home a couple of years ago. They wanted to move from the Hibiscus Coast and Graham found the villa on the internet.

They decided to have a look - just for fun - and bought the property in the middle of winter. It had been a holiday home and was surrounded by 0.6ha of hip-high kikuyu, over which it was still possible, luckily, to admire the spectacular view across the harbour.

"It took quite awhile to tame the land, which is why we have three alpacas," Monique explains. "They are lovely, but they do tend to eat everything,"

Built in the 1860s by Robert Saies, the house is known locally as Saies Cottage, which differentiates it from Saies House, now operating as the Totara Country Lodge.

The cottage was the home of Joe and Alice Saies for most of their lives. Joe, a bushman and sawmiller, arrived here on the Lancashire Witch from Wales in 1865. His wife Alice was born in Auckland. The cottage is built of kauri, as are most of the floors, cupboards and benches. It has seen renovations over time, but they've been sympathetic and have extended the space to four bedrooms and a second toilet.

In their time at the cottage, Monique and Graham have installed HRV home ventilation, new water tanks, a new white fence edging the driveway, and a new, stained glass front door, a close copy of the original, which was beyond repair. "Other than that we've just touched up the bits that needed it," says Monique.

And she has applied her artistic flair to the interior, decorating the pale yellow walls with artworks, and furnishing the rooms with lovely old yellowwood and oak pieces she brought from South Africa. Therein is the reason for leaving the house - Monique's elderly parents in South Africa need support and she and Graham have decided to spend time with them.

It will be a wrench to leave the villa and Monique is convinced she'll never find anything quite like it again. It's a house that demands to be lived in, and she has taken full advantage of that, establishing a productive vegetable garden and doing lots of pickling, bottling and making chutneys. It's also a great place to work from home and before the decision to sell was made, Monique was planning to write another book. She is a professional body stress release practitioner and has already produced a book about self healing.

"But I'm never short of something to do here," she says. "We go out in the boat a lot - we have our own mooring in the harbour that goes with the house - and we go fishing and diving. There are fantastic beaches within about 20 minutes' drive. Mangonui is just up the road and it has the best Thai restaurant I've ever been to, and there are plenty of good cafes and restaurants in Kerikeri, too. This is a really nice community and I know the names of all of my neighbours."