Whitford: Rustic charm

It's big, it's solid and it's full of European-style character. By VICKI HOLDER.

As you carefully pass the rust-coloured chickens pecking among the white pebbles in the driveway of this home, you can't help thinking you've arrived in the Italian countryside.

The idyllic five-year-old equestrian home on Whitford's waterfront captures the owner's fond memories of growing up in a farmhouse in Verona.

"I had a feel for what I wanted and it's pretty much what our farmhouse was like. Everything is made out of recycled timber as I tried to make it feel old. I just love the smell and feel of history," she says.

Rustic timber shutters at the windows and an autumnal cloak of scarlet creeper brace the solid masonry walls of the house. They give a softening effect, which detracts from the sheer size of the building, designed by Gerald Carter of Heritage Homes to cater for a typical extended European family. It's actually two adjoining homes with two separate entries and stairwells. Connected across the middle by a dining room and formal lounge, it can work as one large, rambling home.

Tall, weathered, timber doors (from Rajasthan) open into the main entry, where the tall, curved ceiling has been hand-painted with a colourful fresco. Durable terrazzo concrete floors lead into a casual sitting area where the family can relax before a huge concrete fireplace. There's nothing precious about this room. It's big, solid and robust with glass doors opening to a view of the garden that rolls down through an olive grove to the water's edge. Heavy timber beams on the ceiling imbue the room with the feel and sweet pungent aromas of age.

A coved, timber tongue-and-groove ceiling in the large, traditional country kitchen-family room next door lend warmth and richness. This is the owner's favourite room - it's hugely evocative of her childhood home. Meals are cooked on the shiny, blue Aga cooker that keeps the room cosy in winter. Doubling as the kitchen bench, an antique refectory table is inset with a porcelain sink and antique brass taps. Open shelving keeps a riot of pots, pans, pretty china and glassware organised. Everything is handy, even when it's tucked out of sight in the walk-in pantry.

Blending into the style of the home, a more conventional, modern kitchen is available for catering at the other end of the house. It opens into the lounge, which is furnished with a gas fire and antique gas lamps converted for electricity. At an angle to the rest of the house, this room looks across a private courtyard to the water.

The large dining room between both entries is great when the whole family gets together for large functions.

Self-contained bedroom wings upstairs link across a loggia that looks across the land. The owner's parents enjoy working from an art studio a level down from a guest suite, where they have their own bedroom with a separate bathroom.

The master bedroom at the other end opens to the loggia. Timber beams and antique fittings, such as the old pedestal basin and copper pipes in the shower, ensure the en suite looks as if it has been around for much longer than five years. Beyond an upstairs sitting area, three generous children's bedrooms share a no-nonsense bathroom full of rustic character.

When the owner's eldest son moved out he didn't go far. He took a liking to the cottage across the way where the family lived temporarily before the main house was built. Full of country charm, this two-storey, five-bedroom dwelling with a study was built of timber around an open-plan living area. The lack of corridors seems to pull everyone into the central living area.

A short walk past the thriving potager garden, spacious, open-plan guest accommodation sits above original kauri stables with six lock boxes. An international standard arena and enclosed lungeing ring plus truck parking and yards for visitors make this a truly exceptional equestrian property.

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: Birch Park Lane, Whitford.

FEATURES: Waterfront property offering several accommodation options and equestrian facilities; orchard and olive grove; five-year-old masonry villa designed by Replica Homes suitable for two families or one large family; six bedrooms plus studio; three bathrooms; two kitchens; adjoining dining room; internal-access double garage; two fireplaces - one gas, one log fire - antique fittings included; five-bedroom cottage with study; large accommodation above original kauri stables; international standard arena and enclosed lungeing ring; truck parking and yards.

SIZE: Land area 5.2ha; floor area of main house 500sq m; cottage approx 180sq m; stable complex approx 400sq m.

TENDER CLOSES: August 26.

AGENT: Julie Parmenter, Barfoot & Thompson, Whitford. Ph 530 8292 bus; 021 982 210 mob.