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Fresh air, open spaces, established trees and living in an old house were on Colin and Karen Stephenson's checklist when they decided to move from Freemans Bay to the countryside nearly 16 years ago.
Colin also says the quality of Ramarama's soil drew him to look in this part ofSouth Auckland for somewhere to buy because he wanted to develop a large English-style country garden.
Karen grew up in Surrey and after Colin moved to New Zealand from Yorkshire with his family at the age of nine, he spent much of his childhood in small towns.
So the English-born couple were keen for their daughter Mila, who is now 22, to experience a rural lifestyle when she was growing up.
Their property, still known as The Old Coach House, is at the end of a quiet country lane.
Horse-drawn carriages would stop for refreshments at the villa which was built in the early 1900s and still has many of its original features including elegant fretwork, 3.6m studs and kauri and rimu flooring.
"We took one look at the house in 2001 and were completely charmed by it," says Colin. "It is one of those places that captures your heart when you are here."
The Stephensons were also taken by the fact that one couple who had owned the house in the 1990s had done extensive, sympathetic renovations that included adding three bedrooms, a third bathroom and a conservatory-style family room.
"The whole house was already in really good condition when we bought it and we have also made several improvements," says Karen.
These have included tarsealing around the house and its 400m private lane, which is lined with mature trees including pohutukawa, which are about the same age as the house.
The Stephensons have added a wide, northwest-facing deck that opens off the lounge and kitchen, turned the pokey former scullery into a large, French provincial-style kitchen in the centre of the house and relandscaped around the swimming pool to include a built-in day bed and seating.
Colin's biggest joy has been landscaping the property's park-like gardens, which are full of birds including wood pigeons, tui and pheasants.
Over the years he has planted more than 300 native and exotic trees including maples, elms, London planes and poplars, developed attractive perennial borders and created stunning vistas in the garden against the backdrop of Ramarama's rolling hills.
"We were part of the Franklin Hospice Garden Ramble recently and several people, including landscapers, told us it was the best garden on the tour," says Karen.
Image 1 of 13: 61b Pratts Rd, Ramarama, Auckland, home of Colin and Karen Stephenson. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images.
In addition to its well established gardens, the 2.87ha property includes a lily pond, a tennis court with an umpire box, a three-car garage and nine paddocks where the Stephensons have kept sheep and nine miniature ponies.
The 360sq m house includes a traditional villa hallway that runs through the centre of the house from the main entrance.
To the right of this are the master bedroom and a second large bedroom - both with en suites.
To the left are the formal lounge, the kitchen and a light-filled adjoining family room with large, panelled sliding windows.
At the end of the hallway and beyond another lounge are three more bedrooms and a family bathroom in the newer part of the house which also leads to the back garden and swimming pool.
In good traffic, the property is about 40 minutes' drive from central Auckland, and the Stephensons say the Ramarama community is friendly with good schools.
Now that Mila has left home, they are ready for a change and a smaller property.
"It sounds like a cliche, but this house needs a new family now," says Colin.
