Jane and Jeff Gray describe their Omaha beach home as all about revealing itself. "There is always something exciting being revealed," says Jane.
The Hawkes Bay couple bought this David Ponting-designed home as their holiday house two-and-a-bit years ago when they downsized their Napier base to a townhouse in Ahuriri,"a little fishing village in Napier".
"It is a pretty glamorous beach house. It works magnificently when you have a small townhouse as your primary home.
"We had built a similar property in Hawkes Bay. When we saw this property we understood it because we had used the same materials. It doesn't just look fabulous, it is magnificent to live in. Every glass panel opens up to the central courtyard. It is like being on holiday in a resort."
Jane is a fan of Ponting's work. "I follow a lot of architects, it goes hand in hand, not only am I an artist but I am also an interior designer and I am always looking at what is happening. He is visionary. This house is 9 years old but it won't date. And I know people buy Ponting houses."
Built in concrete with vertical detailing and a second level in copper, the home has an avant garde edge to its modernism.
"You don't have to paint it or do anything to it. It is perfect for a beach house and it only gets better with age."
Jane says people often are perplexed by the front door. "It is clever, a gigantic pivoting door with no doorbell or mat to give itself away. That opens into a very big hall with natural lighting through skylights so artwork is really shown off."
The hallway's sliding door shuts off the guest wing's two bedrooms and bathroom, which open to the central courtyard.
Turning right in the hallway brings you to a large open-plan room. Another sliding door shuts the hall off, revealing a TV on the wall. This long room is four distinct rooms, the two sitting areas, one with gas fire, the dining space and the kitchen with European appliances and stainless steel bench. Large sliding doors open up to the courtyard on one side, the deck on the other.
Image 1 of 5: 184 Mangatawhiri Rd, Omaha. Tender 7 Oct.
Vendor: Jane & Jeff Gray. 021 245 8500 - Jane 021 457 750 - Jeff.
Agent: Agent: Nadja Court. 021 777 690 n.court@barfoot.co.nz
Turning right from the kitchen is another gallery space, also opening to the central courtyard, where Jane's wall of paintings are lit with professional art gallery lighting.
The next room, finishing off the square around the courtyard, was built as a bedroom but Jane and Jeff use it as a den. A full-sized bathroom is the next room as this section was the master bedroom in the initial stage of the build.
Having gone round the full square surrounding the courtyard, you finish with the garage, which has a wine cellar, built-in cupboards and room for at least three cars.
Upstairs is the master bedroom suite, its exterior walls copper. This spacious area has the bedroom, walk-in wardrobe and new bathroom.
"There is another office space so that is where I do my interior design work," says Jane.
The house caters for enormous amounts of people or just Jeff and Jane very happily. The couple loves being within four minutes' walk to the beach -- the best in the country, reckons Jane -- and a gate in their Corten fence leads to the golf course.
They also appreciate how the house turns its back on the water to face protected rural views, ensuring privacy.
Landscaping has been kept easy care with palms, bromeliads, sculptures and waterfall features.
But now they have their Napier and Omaha homes on the market. "None of our children live in Hawkes Bay now. We have two grandchildren and they are in Devonport so we are relocating to the Matakana region.
"Also I need a studio space and my art market is Auckland more than anywhere else, so that is the reasoning."
Jane thinks the Omaha home's new owner will probably be an art lover because of the emphasis on gallery spaces. "It could be somebody from overseas who is returning because it is a house type that people who have travelled and lived abroad will understand. And it will be somebody like us who loves the beach but loves that rural aspect and the privacy."
