Sandspit: Crow’s nest views

The position of the house gives it shelter from winds from any direction.

With an outlook to please a ship's captain, this expansive home is also the perfect family retreat.

47 Puriri Place, Sandspit.

Don McGill has seen some spectacular scenery in his time as a ship's captain, so you have to respect his opinion when he says he prefers the views from his home.

He captains a cargo ship on runs to tropical beauty spots such as Noumea and Fiji for Neptune Shipping, but still waxes lyrical about his own slice of paradise.

"As you come over the hill to our house you get a tremendous view," he says. "From the house you get views out to the east over Kawau Bay and the Matakana River.

"Just about every room has a view but some of the best views are out of the kitchen window. And it's probably got the best view in the neighbourhood from the clothesline.

"We get some spectacular sunrises here. My wife [Stephanie] has got a lot of photos of sunrises in a book."

Stephanie says: "I just can't resist taking photos of the view, but it's not just the sunrises, it's the way the water and light play together."

Perched high above the water you would expect the house to be exposed to the elements, but Don, with his weather eye, says because the home is tucked into the hill it's protected from the worst of the southerlies, while the cliff beneath acts as a deflector of storms from the east.

Don says their residence of eight years is a true family home with five bedrooms, three living areas, a dining room, two offices, three bathrooms, a swimming pool and a double internal-access garage.

"We've had 15 people staying here at once, plus kids, and no-one felt they were on top of each other," Stephanie says.

The three-level, cedar and brick home with a cement tile roof sits below the road and is built into the hillside, meaning you park in the garage at the top and enter at the uppermost level. The main living area and dining room is at the lowest level and has the largest deck. The house sits on about half a hectare of sloping bush-clad land.

"You don't have neighbours right on you here. We had been looking for quite a while when this house came up so we grabbed it," Don says

The McGills are downsizing as two of their three children have left home and the last one is about to leave.

"At one stage we had three kids and the mother-in-law here, but it's just the two of us now and we're rattling around here," Don says.

They've lived in the area 25 years - ever since they moved a house from Orakei to Point Wells - and have lots of local friends, which is making it even harder to plot their next move. Don says it could be anywhere between Whangarei and Dunedin.

"We have a daughter in Australia, too, so we are considering all our options," Stephanie says.

Wherever they end up, you can bet they will be struggling to match the views they have enjoyed for the past eight years.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 3967sq m, house

350sq m. PRICE: CV $1.25 million. Auction May 1.

INSPECT: Open home Sunday 12pm-1pm. CONTACT: Amanda Wynne, Harveys, Warkworth, ph 09 425 8589, mob 021 672 478.

FEATURES: Three-level home on an acre of bush in a private and sheltered setting with panoramic views of Kawau Bay. Internal access garage, in-ground pool, each level has its own deck.