Whitford: Big spaces

A peaceful lifestyle in the country just minutes from Botany Town Centre. It's all to be had at this gem of a family home in Whitford. By VICKI HOLDER.

Turning their backs on a farming lifestyle for big city living, a family discovered you can have your cake and eat it - in wide-open spaces just minutes from town.

Ron and Christine Webby moved with their four children from a farm in Northland to Auckland in 1987 when Ron became president of the Auckland Federated Farmers. He needed to be close to his new office in Ponsonby, but the family wouldn't be without the familiar sense of space they had grown up with, or the peaceful rural surrounds. Their search led them to an idyllic lifestyle property hidden in the gently rolling hills of Whitford, just seven minutes from the shops and amenities of Botany Town Centre.

On three subdividable lots, the property looks down over an expansive sweep of lawn, then lower down still to a tennis court in a quiet valley. Immediately in front of the house, a swimming pool bathes in the warmth of the northern sun, sheltered by lush, subtropical islands of easy-care gardens.

Surrounding the property is native bush with a sizeable grove of large totara trees and other native specimens that attract an abundance of bird life. The trees provide a buffer from the world and a retreat where parents and children alike love to roam.

"The bush gave me a feeling of space," says Ron. "I could go there from the frustration of the office and the inner city and relax. It's wonderful to see the tui flying across the front and settle in the big kahikatea tree. Native wood pigeons flutter around all the time."

Evoking the look and feel of a typical Australian Queenslander, the charming traditional timber homestead became a favourite gathering place for the children's friends. With a huge wrap-around veranda that extends the living area substantially, it captures the romance of early colonial days.

Because it lends itself so well to entertaining, the Webbys held numerous parties and family functions at the property. While they can pitch a marquee on the lawn, the veranda takes the overflow. "If the worst comes to the worst," says Ron, "and the weather turns, we know everyone can always be accommodated on the veranda."

Christine adds, with a tone of sadness in her voice: "We spent a lot of time out on that veranda - weddings, christenings, it was everyone's favourite house. We've had a lot of fun here." She explains that with its silvery weatherboards the house looks as if it has been here for more than a century, but it was only built a few years before the Webbys arrived. It was always designed to look old and the builder selected traditional materials to hasten the deception. The timber is cedar and macrocarpa - "wonderful, because you don't every have to paint it".

Inside, it has the quietly understated elegance of an older home. Rooms have timber panelled ceilings, timber floors and deep moulded kauri skirtings and architraves. There's no modern, open-plan nonsense. Rooms dedicated to different purposes are separate, though they flow nicely around a kitchen with timber benchtops and exposed brick walls. However, in a comfortable concession to modern times, french doors with quarterpane windows open to the veranda from just about everywhere.

The separate lounge is a more formal space for entertaining. And a cosy family room has a pot belly stove that is fired up during winter, drawing the family to read or watch television. Many guests, including overseas visitors and presidents of the Farmers Federation from other parts of the country, have been entertained in the dramatic teal-coloured formal dining room.

There are two bedrooms downstairs plus a study, and two more look out through dormer windows from the upper level. Both levels have bathrooms.

When compromise is sought between town and country, modern and old, this beguiling property makes it easy.

Vital Statistics
ADDRESS: Griggs Rd, Whitford.

FEATURES: Lifestyle property surrounded by native bush, expansive lawns and easy-care gardens; swimming pool; Queenslander-style home with several family and formal living areas; four bedrooms; study; two bathrooms; double garage and implement shed.

SIZE: Land area 3.3ha.

TENDER CLOSES: 4pm, May 21.

AGENTS: Julie Parmenter and Vic Rose, Barfoot & Thompson, Whitford. Ph 530 8292 bus; Julie 021 982 210 mob; Vic 025 944 954 mob.