Cecilia and Hugh Lambie hadn't meant to buy this home seven years ago, but deciding to just have a look was a mistake they are happy to have made.
Cecilia, who is from Sweden, was first smitten with the big old oak tree at the entranceway, which was probably planted about the time the homestead was built in the 1940s on what, back then, was a much bigger section.
"We weren't at all going to buy this house and my husband said, 'No, let's not go and look at it.' So we came, and, you know - it's just so lovely, it looks like a romantic little setting with the tree," says Cecilia.
The mother of three found herself falling even harder for the house after walking into the open dining/kitchen/living area with windows framing views of Rangitoto Island and two sets of French doors opening out on to a deck and the fenced yard. As she leads the way upstairs she says: "This is where it really got me, because this balcony is great." On this upper level, four spacious bedrooms run the length of the balcony, with its views of the harbour and Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the distance. Here, the family can sit on beanbags, read and relax and watch the action on the harbour, from the ferries heading out to Waiheke Island to the big cruise ships passing by.
