SCHOOL ZONES:
Auckland Girls’ Grammar, Western Springs College
CONTACT:
Andrea Ritchie, ph 021 906 793
Peter Nicoll loved the ambience, the big, dark blue kitchen against the dark wood floors, the outdoors, the cafes, the location.
His neighbours -- who he says are wonderful -- talk about going home to their bach in Herne Bay and that's how he has felt about his Cape Cod-style home by Koia Architects, which is nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac in the heart of the city but not of the city.
"You close the gate and that's what you've got. When you're standing here you're not in Auckland, yet if you want to go into Queen St you're 10 minutes."
Outside is his private sanctuary; a low maintenance backyard with mangroves and walkways beyond and tonnes of places to explore.
Peter leads the way upstairs and stands on the bridge overlooking the split lounge. The room has a double-sided fireplace and, through cathedral-style and huge skylight windows behind, light floods upstairs and downstairs.
"You've got half a dozen cafes here, you've got half a dozen cafes over there in Richmond Rd. You can go walking to Cox's Bay, you can walk to Grey Lynn, to Westmere, it's really central."
He used to live in Remuera and that was really nice, he says, but to get anywhere you had to drive. "Here you can walk, you can run, you can kayak -- there's a kayak club just around the corner."
The master bedroom is up here with its own balcony and a walk-in wardrobe, which leads to the en-suite. At the other end of the bridge are two more bedrooms and downstairs is a guest room.
After we head outside, Peter says to listen. No traffic noise. "You're in the centre of the city and there's no traffic."
Herons occasionally roost in the trees.
In the backyard out-of-the-way steps lead up to a little paved area big enough for a spa pool but where Peter likes to drag a bean chair and read.
He says he fell in love with this property for three main reasons. First, the suburb. "Absolutely, no questions asked. It's the best suburb. I can get on to the Northern motorway, the Western, the Southern in a few minutes. My commute when I used to walk into town was one iPod song."
The second reason is the space. Peter says Herne Bay has many beautiful old villas but "you can literally stretch your arm out the window and shake hands with the next door neighbour".
Third, he loves the feeling of being in a bolt hole: "You can just shut off the rest of the world. You're surrounded by green and vegetation and you can watch the clouds roll past."
There are hidden beaches nearby only the locals know about and his house is easy care, yet classy and comfortable.
He thinks his cats may be in for a shock but that they will adjust and he knows that whomever buys the property will love it and will be able to put their own stamp on it. He says he is leaving because he is moving to the North Shore to a lovely new home with his partner, but you can tell he is going to miss this sanctuary.
