Whenuapai: Paradise found welcoming

Tucked away in a part of Auckland yet to be discovered by many, this holiday resort-style home boasts an endless list of luxuries and the most private of locations. By VICKI HOLDER.

When Clive and Heather moved to Whenuapai to a kiwifruit orchard 10 years ago, it wasn't the crop that drew them from the town into the country.

Hard work was not what they had in mind. Instead, they resorted to a blissful holiday lifestyle on the waterfront, just 20 minutes from Auckland's CBD.

Surrounded by the calm waters of the Upper Waitemata Harbour, the property - with riparian rights - lies on a big, fertile, alluvial piece of land, almost like a peninsula. Not only does it provide sunny, north-facing waterfront vistas from almost every room in the house, it gives easy access for the owners' favourite water sports.

From their renovated Mediterranean-style home, they watch tourist boats cruising peacefully on their way up to the Riverhead Pub. They launch their boats on the registered boat ramp at the bottom of the garden. Daughter Selina and her friends spend all summer water skiing under her parents' watchful gaze. They can even buzz across the water for a round of golf at the Huapai Golf Club.

It took time to develop the property into the magnificent subtropical resort it is today. Shelter belts were extended with masses of native planting. Bangalow palms were planted along the driveway from the road and queen palms form small groves in front of the living areas. The subtropical gardens have thrived, as has the vegetable garden, which provides a healthy bounty that the family matches with fresh fish - flounder and snapper - caught in the nearby waters.

Many of the original kiwifruit vines came out to make way for a full-size Astroturf tennis court and an organic orchard with two of every kind of fruit tree imaginable. There's no longer enough kiwifruit to be commercially viable, so they use the crop as a fundraiser. Encouraging schools and community groups to come and help themselves, they donate the proceeds to different charities.

The house was just a two-bedroom cottage when the owners arrived. Leading Auckland architect Frans Kamermans extended it but kept the addition in keeping with the style of the original single-level home. Tall, pitched, native kauri ceilings with ceiling fans add a languid tropical ambience that works with the terracotta tiles on the living room floors. Cedar plantation shutters control light at most of the windows and doors. Glazed conservatories off the living areas let the family enjoy sitting outside, even in winter.

Air conditioning was added during the re-fit. But the free-standing fireplace with a wetback in the family living area proved particularly useful for cooking and water heating during power cuts several years ago.

Kamermans also added another wing incorporating two extra bedrooms and two more modern bathrooms - a big family bathroom with a terrazzo floor and vanity, plus an elegant en suite in the new master suite. The single bedroom in the original part of the house was converted into an office.

A bathroom was switched to a changing room leading to the swimming pool, so wet bathers don't have to trek through the house. Swimming gear is contained beneath a slatted bench opposite the shower.

All the living areas and bedrooms face north, opening through bifolds to a terrace built around the swimming pool. Designed by Kamermans, the pool is solar-heated. Because it basks in sun and is protected from winds, the temperature reaches up to 30 degrees Celsius in summer.

Although its focus is towards the water, the house offers children a big stretch of lawn to play on. The extensive lawns beneath the trees and at the water's edge are groomed to create an immaculate Garden of Eden. Bark keeps weeds at bay beneath the vines.

Selina and her dad built a large tree house behind the home, which was a lot of fun in the early years. Later, Selina moved on to her teenage retreat. On weekends, she frequently escaped with her friends to the original one-bedroom batten-and-board cottage further back on the property, where they practised flatting and living independently from adults.

This part of the Upper Waitemata Harbour is still relatively undiscovered and many Aucklanders don't know it exists. But this family has enjoyed an endless vacation here on their private piece of paradise.

Vital statistics

ADDRESS: 22 Bristol Rd, Whenuapai.

FEATURES: North-facing waterfront property; registered boat ramp; landscaped garden with subtropical planting; home renovated and extended by architect Frans Kamermans; four bedrooms; three bathrooms; conservatory; two living areas; renovated kitchen; open fire plus free-standing fireplace with wetback; great indoor-outdoor aspect with cedar bifolds; air conditioning; solar-heated swimming pool; town water supply; renovated two-storey cottage in organic orchard; 0.41ha kiwifruit; internal-access double garaging plus four-car garaging or storage.

SIZE: Land area 2.5672ha.

PRICE: $3 million.

AGENT: David Savery, Bayleys Real Estate. Ph 309 6020 bus; 025 375 8472 mob.