How green is my valley in Clevedon

74 Holdens Rd, Clevedon, Auckland. Photo / Geoff Dale

74 HOLDENS RD CLEVEDON

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SIZE: Land 18.89ha, house 260sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: CV $2.45 million. Offers sought in that range.

INSPECT: Open home this Sunday and next Sunday (May 8), 2-3pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: bayleys.co.nz/344897

SCHOOL ZONES: Clevedon Primary School (Years 1-8), Papakura High School.

CONTACT: Gordon Gibson or Peter Sullivan, Bayleys, ph 021 922 296 (Gordon) 021 733 278 (Peter).

FEATURES: Realise a romantic dream in this country house, featuring four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a genuine country-sized kitchen. Outbuildings include a stand-alone stable block plus a huge implement/storage barn, which contains stables and self-contained accommodation with adjacent stockyards and extra undercover parking. Garage has a sleep-out above it.

Countryside doesn't come much prettier than the secret valley of Holdens Rd in the hills above Clevedon. Amberley Farm at number 74 is a particularly attractive part of it, withhandsome horses leaning over fences, plump cattle dotting the hillsides, and a variety of plants giving shade and shelter. All this has come about partly through the hard work of a succession of owners dating back at least a century, and partly because the most recent owners Fiona and William Purvis are both country folk born-and-bred.

"Because we were both brought up on farms, we haven't found it difficult to manage the land," admits Fiona. "We run cattle on the hills and rotate them with the horses, and it all pretty much looks after itself, although looking after land is always a work in progress."

The fact that Fiona is a landscape designer might also have something to do with the sheer beauty of it.

The house looks as though it has only ever known loving owners. Cleverly extended about 20 years ago, the cottage has grown into a roomy, comfortable country house with the wide weatherboards, steeply pitched roofs, gabled windows and verandas of a true colonial house. The fact that only the central core of it is original is undetectable, so well have the additions been handled, although when you look closely, the 250mm-wide kauri floorboards in the kitchen are the giveaway.

The farmhouse kitchen, with its curving windows in front of the sink looking out over the farm, and attached cosy family sitting room, exude country living at its finest. One door off the kitchen leads to a room-sized walk-in pantry and others to a large service wing with an office, bathroom and laundry. From the back door it is just a step to the garage with a loft where Fiona and William's son slept in his teenage years.

Just across the short central hall, lies the traditionally styled formal sitting room with views in all directions out across the green hillsides. This was one of the additions, but it has been handled so sensitively that the transition is seamless.

The same goes for upstairs. Off to the right, at the head of the stairs, is the master bedroom, bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. "This is the room that I feminised the most," laughs Fiona. "It used to have quite a masculine feel to it and softening the colours put our mark on it."

Heading in the opposite direction are three sunny bedrooms and a bathroom for the children, although only 16-year-old Claudia is still at home. All are large and light-filled, with more of those beautiful country views from every window.

It doesn't stop here. A board-and-batten stable block lies at the head of the tree-lined driveway, and a few metres back up the road a huge black-painted barn opens to reveal more stables, a self-contained flat for staff or family, and a huge barn which previous owners ran a packing business from. "We just put stuff in here," says Fiona. "It's so large it's never full, but it is very useful to have."

Despite owning what Fiona thought was her "forever house", the South Island, where they both come from, is calling.

"It's hard to be leaving this lovely place," says William, "but Christchurch is home and we've been planning to return for some time now. An earthquake or two isn't going to keep us away. In fact, it's just hardened our resolve."