SCHOOL ZONES:
Mercury Bay Area School, Te Rerenga School.
CONTACT:
Bev Calder, Bayleys, 027 279 4401.
AUCTION:
March 29.
There's an elegance about Julie and Murray Matheson's house at Kuaotunu that belies its purpose as a holiday home. It's a double-storeyed, rendered concrete block building which would look perfectly comfortable in one of Auckland's smart suburbs.
But when the couple bought the property 26 years ago - just one month after they were married - it was anything but.
"The land had a little gold miner's cottage on it that was tiny and slowly falling down, so the 10-year plan was always to build a new house," Julie says. "But 10 years later I was expecting twins and after that it was wall-to-wall beds in the miner's cottage."
However, they didn't let that put the brakes on the building project for long, although completing the plans took ages because, Julie says, they often disagreed on what they wanted.
"Then we went to see a show home and we both went: 'This is it'."
That show home was styled on a French country house and Julie was charmed.
"I'd always loved the idea of running away to France but that wasn't going to happen so I had to bring it here."
They drew up their plans for a low maintenance family home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, open plan living areas and outdoor entertaining space.
It's a spacious home with an open layout and most rooms have wide, bi-fold windows and doors opening to decks, the garden and the views.
The downstairs living areas have floors in terracotta tiles - a practical option that also fulfils the French country aesthetic - while the bedrooms are carpeted. The upstairs deck is a favourite spot with its views of the water.
"The house has appealed to so many people who have stayed here," Julie says. "It always seemed to remind people of other houses or buildings they loved, from Wales to France."
Over the years Julie and Murray have planted trees, and the house is now encircled by greenery. A reserve down one side gives further privacy and provides direct access to the beach.
"The best memories I have of my childhood are of holidays at the beach," Julie says.
"So when we decided to sell I asked the kids to write a list of their favourite memories of this place. They wrote about finding their dad's old tree hut and resurrecting it, having sand-dune jumping competitions, and sleeping in the tent on the lawn."
The family has also enjoyed what the town of Kuaotunu has to offer. A little over 100 years ago gold was discovered here, and more than 1000 people lived and worked there.
Julie and Murray have nurtured a retirement dream of living like Tom and Barbara from the vintage television programme The Good Life, so they've bought a larger piece of property just north of Coromandel town.
