SCHOOL ZONES:
Taupaki Primary and Kindergarten, Massey College and St Pauls.
CONTACT:
Simon Armitage, Bayleys, 021 523 701, 09 831 0404.
AUCTION:
2pm, December 9, 4 Viaduct Harbour Ave (unless sold prior).
Parents buying this contemporary single-level home at Taupaki will benefit from the hindsight of the sellers, whose names just happen to be Bryan and Karen Sellers.
Bryan and Karen's sons and daughter are grownups now, but what they have brought to this build is a point of difference from the family home they lived in for 28 years at Farm Cove. That difference was having their parental bedroom separate from the family bedrooms.
"It's a family home ... sort of split into two," says Bryan. "Having had teenagers we appreciated the ability to have peace and quiet at one end of the house."
When they were selling the Farm Cove home, Bryan says they first thought about building at Clevedon.
But one day in 2010 he and his sons were near Kumeu trail bike riding and Bryan saw this land was for sale at Taupaki.
He realised that being so close to the motorway meant they could live in the country but still commute to town. He notes the irony that Farm Cove was 18km from his city office but it took 50 minutes to travel into Auckland, whereas now he lives 22km away and the trip takes just half an hour.
"I'm living in the country and it takes me less time to commute than when I was living in suburbia. And that's including the road works on the Northwestern Motorway, so it will be even better when they are finished.
"I did my research before we bought the land and I knew about the changes and the tunnel and I also knew the NorthWest shopping centre was going to be built. That is a massive development. You don't need to go to out of the area to do your shopping."
Once they had bought the 1.9ha, they settled on a Stonewood Homes plan, built of linear and Ezpanels with long run steel roof.
The couple's son and his best man, both builders, helped to build the home.
"Having our son and his friend work on the build was a good synergy," says Bryan.
Image 1 of 6: Owners' foresight in dividing spacious home into two wings delivers a family haven with benefit of a sound buffer for parents. Photos / Supplied
Their contemporary home spreads out over 240sq m, never going wider than one room, and all rooms have outside windows to the rural views and the colourful garden the couple have landscaped.
The kitchen, designed by Kitchen Studio, with marble benchtops, is in the middle of the house. On one side of the kitchen is the main living room with the wood fireplace, and next is the master bedroom with en suite and walk-in wardrobe. Cavity sliding doors between the kitchen and main living room mean the "adult end" of the house can be closed off from the rest of the house.
On the other side of the kitchen is the dining and family room with a heat pump. Beyond that are three bedrooms, the main bathroom, guest toilet, office and garage.
"That is separate so if you have people staying they can come out in the night and use the kitchen without disturbing you; the same if you have children at home," says Bryan. "At our other house we felt like we were living in each other's pockets.
"This home is very open, every room has windows on both sides and there is tons of light."
The kitchen and living area open through double bi-fold doors to the main deck with barbecue. The master bedroom opens to its own deck, and the back door also has a little deck. As well as the decks, Bryan has boardwalks for access around the outside of the house, similar to those he enjoys on the bush trails when he is tramping.
The couple have enjoyed living close to Kumeu's cafes and bakeries, Bethells Beach (especially the free concerts on summer Fridays) and the Waitakere Ranges where they like to go tramping.
But now they are nearing retirement age and there is just the two of them, they are downsizing.
They imagine their beautiful home appealing to young professional couples.
"People who work in the city and have children that they want to go to a local school. Rural schools are much smaller and they have calf days and all sorts of things they don't have in the city," says Bryan.
"If we had our time again, we would have moved out here earlier because it is just wonderful out here, living in the country, more peaceful."
