CONTACT:
John Staines, Douglas Melville, ph 021
974 553, 021 702 500.
Down in the bush where tree trunks and boundary pegs have long since merged as one, there's a garden that Corinne Steenbeeke and Nick Fritz call their "little Motuihe". It's their small-scale version of Motuihe Island's volunteer restorative planting programme in which they took part before they settled permanently here on the mainland five years ago.
For Corinne and Nick, who are both of Dutch extraction, there was no better way of committing themselves to the great New Zealand outdoors than that and when they went house hunting they hoped they'd find one with a sense of that great outdoors connection.
They found it in this secluded cul-de-sac on a property surrounded by oaks, kauri, rimu, rewarewa and with a little creek and footbridge.
Best of all, they say, they found it in a neighbourhood with a traditional mix of Kiwi homes with the "over the top" high front fences. "We loved that," Corinne explains. "We came into this street and then we found this really unusual house and that was a real surprise.
"We wanted green and we wanted nature - the size of the land wasn't important - and we did want to feel as if we were in a different country."
This is an architecturally designed home that takes its time ambling down the steep terrain, level by level, with layer upon layer of surprises all wrapped up in a cohesive cedar timber cladding with big picture windows and decks to private outdoor living.
Well into their own pocket of bush, Corinne and Nick have built a discreet Zen deck that is their favourite spot for rest and appreciation during their 75-minute regular dog walks that take them through neighbouring reserves.
Inside the house itself, the carpeted stairway is the backbone of the floor plan with picture windows along one side and walls ideal for art on the other. The focal point down yonder is the solid native timber floors that are the visual connection to the living areas that open to decks and look out and over the garden and bush. "When the curtains are closed, it's like a cave. It's wonderful," says Corinne.
Downstairs, past the entry and internal access garaging, two mid-level guest bedrooms and a family bathroom can be closed off from the lower levels of the house.
Further down, off the left, the mid-level master bedroom includes the dressing room and en suite, with the split-level living areas and decks unfolding on the lowest levels.
The stairs themselves open directly into the formal lounge and the dining area that each open through bifold doors to the main deck, and are on the same level as the timber/lacquered kitchen.
Of her kitchen and its expansive corner bush views, Corinne says: "I love it because it is so well connected to the style of the home and because of this timber cabinetry that you see first when you come into the room." Within the kitchen proper, claret-coloured lacquered cabinetry and the textured stainless bench maximise function within a workspace that has a pleasing vibe beneath the gently sloping ceiling.
Just off the kitchen, past the guest bathroom and laundry, stairs lead down to the wine cellar and two offices, one of which has a wardrobe and en suite for use as a bedroom.
Corinne and Nick, through their New Zealand-registered company, organise cultural events in the Netherlands and Belgium for high-end US and European-based art collectors and museum owners. They have no plans to return to Europe. Instead they're looking towards greener, even more open pastures possibly in the South Island.
