Heraldhomes editor Estelle Sarney looks back on properties for sale that have fascinated readers and made news.
Outside Point Wells village, about 100km north of Auckland, lies a country estate that is part laid-back California, part grand English estate.
Michelle Somerville fashioned this small transatlantic hybrid out of a kiwifruit orchard. She and her former partner spotted the land 13 years ago and ripped the unviable kiwifruit crop out to create their tree-lined paradise.
Liquidambars, hydrangeas and 20,000 daffodil bulbs line the long driveway. As it curves to the house, poplars, palms, ponga, cabbage trees and other exotic and native vegetation take over.
Behind the house is parkland fit for royalty. "Everything was planned," said Michelle when Heraldhomes visited in April. "The whole house [and garden] was planned on paper."
The Californian influence is in the house - a board-and-baton building designed to recreate the atmosphere of Michelle's home of 20 years in Carmel, California. Black-stained, with white bi-fold and French doors and bi-fold windows, it appears modest.
A covered north-facing deck runs the length of the main house, connecting the two "wings" - the main quarters and a guest double bedroom and ensuite with its own entrance. Each opens through bi-fold and "stable" doors, with separately opening top and bottom.
The walls and high-beamed ceiling are white, the cabinetry is rough-cut bleached pine, the floors are off-white Italian tiles - and the kitchen bench top and splash back are a bright lilac with touches of turquoise.
The colours continue wherever there are tiles - aqua blue or salmon for the bathrooms, royal blue in the cottage kitchen.
The one-bedroom "cottage" is part of the same building, but self-contained, with its own courtyard. Michelle's vision for Dreamfields was for a country retreat. So she gained consent for 13 cottages, a lodge, roadside cafe, tennis court and pool.
When sold - by Lewis Guy, Premium, for $2.725m - the property was waiting for someone else to develop them.
