Waiau Pa - A little bit country

A couple have enjoyed a rural setting in a home with city comforts.

29 Village Fields Road, Waiau Pa.

Feeling like a break from city life but not its comforts, Diana and Mike Walford couldn't go past the home they found for sale in the Village Fields Estate two and a half years ago.

"We saw the house for sale and we felt like a bit of a country sojourn," says Diana. "It's sort of the city comes to the country in a way.

The property is not too big that you can't manage it, so you get all the peace and tranquility of the countryside without the hard work."

The homes in the subdivision are down a cul de sac and set on post and rail fenced sections in rolling countryside.

"Everything's been done to a very high standard here," says Diana. "The idea was to develop a community feel and because Waiau Pa village is close by you see kids walking to school, and you can walk down to the supermarket."

Diana says not only was their home the first built in the subdivision and hence "a wee bit nicer" because it acted as a show home, but it also sits next to a reserve.

"It really does give it an English village feel; we sit out on the deck in summer and watch the cricket - it's really very nice."

The home sits towards the rear of the mostly grassed, gently sloping section - down a paved driveway with an automatic gate. Palms line the driveway and have also been used around the property with natives to give a tropical feel.

But because she and Mike are "fruit tree people" they have rebelled against the landscaping a little and added some citrus, passionfruit and tamarillos to the mix.

Diana says the home has been "laid out on an east-west axis to make the most of the sun".

"You get the morning sun in the kitchen and dining area and the sun sweeps around the house so that two of the bedrooms and the lounge get the sun just about all day."

Entry is through a portico beside the internal-access double garage and upstairs to the split-level home proper. To the left is the lounge, kitchen and dining room; to the right is the bedroom wing. "The bedrooms are nicely separated from the living area and private," Diana says.

The master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and an en suite, and French doors out to a deck.

The modern kitchen has a double pantry and polished wood floors. The dining room, lounge and two bedrooms open out on to the deck that wraps around most of the house and from where you can enjoy the rural views.

The couple are reluctantly leaving the comfortable estate to move back into Auckland to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGES: 2

SIZE: Land 2503sq m, house 232sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected over $600,000. Auction September 6.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2-2.45pm

ON THE WEB: www.bayleys.co.nz #350326

CONTACT: Margot Hattaway, Bayleys ph 2982525 bus, 021 921671 mob.

FEATURES: Classic split-level home on easy contoured land adjacent to a reserve in exclusive estate. Two garden sheds plus additional outbuilding for storage or machinery.