It's rare to find a 106-year-old house that has never been on the market and has remained in the hands of one family its entire life.
But that's the case with the 1908 bungalow John Lambert was born in more than 70 years ago. His parents owned the house and farmed the land, and John and his siblings enjoyed the country lifestyle on the 86ha stretching right down to the Kaipara Harbour.
Later, John lived and farmed there with his own family -- wife Maureen and their three children -- and over time turned the lovely old bungalow into an elegant, functional farmhouse.
John's parents did some work to modernise the property during their time there, updating it to late 40s /early 50s style, and John and Maureen did a major renovation in 1988.
"The main problem was that things were in the wrong place. We had to tweak the configuration," Maureen says.
As was the norm at the time, the house was built to keep out the sun, and with total disregard for the views. John and Maureen wanted to open it to sun, views and garden, provide good indoor/outdoor flow with French doors, and add a big master bedroom with an ensuite. Their renovation also included completely reblocking, reroofing and rewiring the house.
The master bedroom, down a few stairs from the main house, always attracts compliments from guests. It's very spacious, with a large built-in wardrobe and an en suite, and is painted and wallpapered in neutral colours, which add to the feeling of serenity.
Maureen has used wallpaper in all the bedrooms. She liked wallpaper long before its recent return to fashion and having a cousin-in-law who was good at paperhanging was an added incentive to use it.
The master bedroom has direct access to the pool and John confides that on very hot nights when they can't sleep, they get out of bed, jump in the pool, and go back to bed cool and relaxed. In the winter, they do the same with the spa.
"You can see the TV from the spa and it's pretty good to sit in there and relax after a day's work."
Image 1 of 4: Generations were born and raised here; now a new family has the chance to enjoy this property.
A family room with expansive views was also added, so the living space now comprises a big kitchen, dining area and family sitting room. A separate formal lounge has been retained, with a beautifully restored period fireplace as its centrepiece.
"It's not the original fireplace," John says. "We bought it from somewhere in Puhoi and I think we took 10 coats of paint off it."
It marries well with the many original features that have been retained, including kauri and rimu floors and double sash windows in lots of the rooms.
"There's not an aluminium window in the place," John says with pride.
"It's amazing what you can push through those sash windows when you're moving furniture in."
There's been quite a bit of furniture moving over the years as the two have sought out appropriate pieces for the house, like the claw-footed bath.
"The house had a claw foot originally but this one is long enough to lie right down in and we love it," Maureen says.
The garden has also been a big undertaking and as well as the many mature pin oaks, silky oaks and pohutukawa, there's a productive orchard full of plums, nectarines persimmons and more, and a tropical area with bananas and coffee bean trees. The coffee plants are producing plenty of beans but Maureen and John haven't expanded into coffee production just yet. That's something for the next owners to try, they say.
The house can be sold either on its own 1.97ha site, or with 86ha of waterfront grazing land. The farm has a predominantly flat to undulating contour, implement sheds, a wintering barn, a boatshed and concrete ramp, a good all-season water supply, QE2 Trust native bush and a large set of cattle yards.
