Waimauku: Deer to be different

When a couple moved to Waimauku more than 25 years ago, friends thought they were mad living out in the sticks.

Fallow Park, 26 Taylor Road, Waimauku.

When John and Alison leave their home of over 25 years they'll be taking more than memories with them.

The couple have grown seedlings from the trees on their 7ha Waimauku estate and have begun planting them out on their new Mangawhai property.

And the couple have a lot of sentiment tied up in a property that they have developed over the years since they first began building in 1976.

"When we bought this place it was bare land, so lots of planting has been done over the years. The house we built was a relatively modest one - it's been a work in progress since then," John says.

"Waimauku in those days was out in the wop-wops - we had party lines and unsealed roads.

"People would say to us, 'Waimauku, where's that? What the hell are you doing living out there?" John says the board and batten home was extended in 1982 and again in 1995 when the kitchen area was revamped and the indoor/outdoor flow was improved.

"The kitchen is the power place of the house. Even after 10 years it's still wonderfully functional," says John.

The kitchen opens out to a deck that descends to a crushed shell courtyard. This overlooks the swimming pool and is often used for entertaining. A snug separates the country-style kitchen and the lounge, which has an open fire built from recycled bricks

"It's a proper fire; you can get decent-sized logs in there," says John.

The lounge has an exposed beam ceiling and the rustic theme continues upstairs with oiled macrocarpa sarking. The master bedroom upstairs opens out on to a covered balcony that overlooks the pool.

The house is on a small plateau, sitting proudly above the undulating property which has mature native and exotic trees, as well as an orchard. John and Alison also have extensive vegetable beds that put a lot of food on the table. And roaming the grounds is a herd of fallow deer.

"They're purely ornamental," says John. "It's just a hobby that started when someone gave me an orphaned fawn and it just grew from there. It's going to be a wrench to leave them behind."

John used to work from the guest quarters on the property.

"With a bit of adaption they could easily be self-contained," he says.

With their three daughters having grown up and moved on, John and Alison feel their home has served its purpose.

"We've grown a family here and we've enjoyed it as a special place," says John, "We hope someone comes after us with a new a vision for it."

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 6

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGE: 1

SIZE: Land 7ha, house 306sq m.

PRICE: CV $1.15 million. Auction November 30.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2.30-3.30pm.

CONTACT: Shona Jurlina, Bayleys, ph 417 0017 bus, or 0275 997 022.

FEATURES: Five-bedroom homestead set on mature park-like grounds. Guest quarters. Entertainment area with in-ground swimming pool. Property has roaming deer, native bush, an established orchard and vegetable gardens. The land also has subdivision potential.