SCHOOL ZONES:
Mangawhai Beach School, Otomatea High School.
CONTACT:
Robbie Robertson 021 959 798.
AUCTION:
Sofitel Hotel, 41 Viaduct Harbour, Feb 22, 2pm.
Buying a New Zealand home with wide views was essential for American Norm Johnson when he moved here with his Kiwi wife Veronica six years ago.
"Coming from Colorado, I'm used to open spaces and can feel a little claustrophobic in some of your beautiful lush, green spaces if they are too low down."
So finding a house for sale next to the rolling greens of Mangawhai's golf course was a stroke of luck when the Johnsons decided to look around the fast-growing Northland township, which is about an hour and a half's drive from Auckland in good traffic.
"We'd been looking for somewhere in the Matakana and Leigh areas when someone suggested Mangawhai would be more affordable."
This three-bedroom home, which is on Greenview Drive and part of the Ocean Links subdivision, was the last of six homes a local agent told them to drive past.
"It was dusk when we arrived. But we took one look at the views and knew this was it," says Norm.
The couple had decided to rent out their Colorado home and move to Veronica's native New Zealand in late 2010 to be closer to three of their four adult children who were living in Australia at the time.
"Now we have three of them in Colorado and one in Australia. They are all having babies so we are moving back to be closer to as much of our family as we can."
In the six years Norm and Veronica have lived in Mangawhai, they have embraced its laid back, seaside culture and Norm's first love - sailing - by buying a 16-foot trailer sailer, which gets them out to Great Barrier and back.
Their colour steel and plywood-clad house is one of several in the subdivision that have been built on a sand ridge, which is accessed by a long, common driveway.
From the two-level contemporary house, you can see across the golf course to the Brynderwyn Hills and get glimpses of Head Rock, the Hen and Chickens and Little Barrier Island.
The property also looks straight down on the 12th hole of the golf course.
"You get to watch people slicing their drives and then coming through the bush that borders our property looking for their balls. We've collected about 80 of them in our time here."
Norm says the 121sq m house, which was built about 2003, is not big but works well, particularly when people come to stay.
"You don't feel invaded because the guest bedrooms and the second bathroom are downstairs away from the main living upstairs and each level has its own deck."
Large sliding doors from both ground floor bedrooms open to a north-facing deck and this level also includes the entranceway, a storage closet, separate toilet and laundry. Upstairs are the master bedroom, second bathroom and a large open-plan kitchen, dining room and living room with sliding doors opening to the second deck.
