Waimauku: Seriously heaven

Look no further for the ultimate in ideal family rural living within easy reach of the city. By VICKI HOLDER.

Big city kids are spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment, but they tend to miss out on traditional treats the farming lifestyle holds in store.

A rural homestead in Waimauku bridges that gap without enticing parents into the major commitment that a full-blown farm entails. For this compact, peaceful lifestyle block, half an hour from the city, was recently carved off a large working farm unit comprising a cattle and sheep station.

Children can graze their pets - the ponies and a few sheep - in the paddocks surrounding the original farmhouse. They can also stand at the garden gate and watch the neighbouring farmer go about his business in the cattle yards adjoining the woolshed.

About seven minutes from Waimauku Village, the delightful five-bedroom homestead has something for the whole family. Living areas open to a swimming pool and picturesque gardens that have grown and flourished over 25 years. Rambling lawns, full of interest, are dotted with old, established trees, including a tall banksia, enormous morton bay figs, pin oaks, willows and camellias. About to burst into bloom under the trees, hundreds of spring bulbs dress up the grounds with colour in early spring.

Behind the house, a big four-bay bloke's shed accommodates all the off-road vehicles rural folk accumulate when they have the space. Some of the area could easily be converted to a sleep-out for the children.

Entry to the homestead is along an agapanthus-lined driveway, ending in a turning bay near steps to the front veranda. Offering places to sit and enjoy a cuppa, the veranda stretches right around the living areas of the house.

The interiors, mostly spaces just one room wide, soak up the all-day sun as it moves from the front in the morning around to the back in the afternoon.

The house has been redecorated in rich colours, new carpet and curtain fabrics selected by designer Collin Hankins, of Garlands in Remuera. The main entry from the veranda opens into the family room where a Sahara wood burner draws attention against a scarlet red wall. It's a warm home with central heating, but the fire creates an enticing ambience on the coldest winter days.

Next door, walls are painted khaki in a quiet, sunny adult space. This room also opens on both sides to the front veranda, as well as the paved patio surrounding the pool.

Painted with pale mustard walls, the kitchen peeps through a servery through which meals can be passed to the dining table in the family room. There's also a small breakfast table where children can do their homework at one end of the kitchen. The door behind is trimmed with a pretty roman blind featuring summer fruits.

Because this is a traditional farmhouse, it boasts the large traditional farm entry at the back door, close to the garage and carport so mud isn't trekked through the formal part of the home. Stacked with cupboards, which once would have held all the jams and preserves made by the farmer's wife, it offers plentiful storage. A masculine dark green study with plaid romans at the windows sits beside the door, and a large laundry is conveniently located near the kitchen.

Dark green wallboards that simulate the look of tiles have updated the family bathroom between the living and bedroom wings. The children's bedrooms line up along this extension. Most are single rooms with sufficient space for a bed, wardrobe and a desk, and they all open to the pool. Much larger, the master bedroom is a cosy space in a pretty lemon and blue colour scheme with underfloor heating and a pitched, beamed roof. The tidy en suite, with a shower, toilet and handbasin, was added in the 1970s.

Simple, spacious and comfortable, this rural retreat is a great place to bring up a family, say the owners, who still run the farm behind. It's close to the city and beaches, but a selection of wineries and innovative tourist ventures have put it on the map as a seriously sought-after lifestyle destination.

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: 798 Peak Rd, Waimauku.

FEATURES: Lifestyle block with four grazing paddocks; original weatherboard farmhouse; formal and family rooms; one double bedroom and four singles; two bathrooms, including master en suite; log burner and central heating; swimming pool; new carpets and curtains; burglar alarm; deep well bore with easement for other properties; four-bay shed.

SIZE: Land area 1.083ha.

PRICE: $649,000.

AGENTS: Ruth Thomson and Jeanette Kneebone, Barfoot & Thompson, Kumeu. Ph 412 5640 bus; Ruth 025 215 9331 mob; Jeanette 021 992 764 mob.