SCHOOL ZONES:
Coatesville Primary, Albany Junior
and Senior High
CONTACT:
Ailsa McArthur, ph 027 298 4000
The uncommon occurs frequently at the Wellers' lifestyle estate.
The northwest Auckland property showcases spaciousness across east and west wings centring on a "Great Room". Study bookshelves concealing a wine cellar, a gym with beer on tap, and the double fireplace in the room are elements that fire the imagination inside this sizeable weatherboard home. There's nothing standard about the surrounding hectares either, nurturing a serene Japanese garden, sunken garden with a fountain and a poolside summer house.
David Weller and his late wife, Sally, bought nearly 7ha of land here 16 years ago while enjoying a couple of years' sojourn from lengthy career stints in Hong Kong and Singapore.
David says: "Our family's joke name for this place is 'the State House', which has a bit of a double meaning seeing I was raised in a state house in Wanganui. The house has a bit of an American colonial feeling to it, like a large home you'd find in New Hampton.
"It has some areas which are decidedly formal, like the central Great Room with a gas fire at one end and a wood-burning one at the other.
"We've had some great formal dinner parties in there. And it's got other areas which are decidedly free-flowing and casual, like the big barbecue area outside the kitchen-family-informal dining room.
"My personal favourite room is probably my study, with its Dickensian homely feeling and reproduction Sydney Federation fireplace."
The couple's two grown children were maturing by the time their parents built this home in 1999, and its generous two-wing design gives adults and kids their own space.
There's instant impact from the high-stud, marble-floored entrance hall and lounge-dining Great Room with custom-made chandelier. The view through the 9.5m-high Great Room previews the grounds. These encompass a summer house with sauna, spa, bathroom and outdoor heated pool, an orchard and two ponds, one in the Japanese garden.
A powder room, David's study (accessing the secret wine cellar) and a laundry preface the west wing hub of kitchen-informal dining-family room. A tongue-and-groove chimney breast soars above its marble fireplace.
Marble benches adorn the kitchen, which has a butler's pantry and an ancillary wood-burning coal range plus its contemporary stove. It opens to the big courtyard with shade-sail, built-in barbecue and outdoor fireplace.
The west wing's upstairs cocoons the master suite with attic above, walk-in wardrobe, en suite and balcony plus en suited guest room.
The mirrored gym beside the east wing's billiards room with bar and wood-burner creates "what I believe would be one of New Zealand's only gyms with beer on tap".
Upstairs, a kids' lounge with kitchenette has sliding doors, which can be closed. Like the other two bedrooms up here (one with a balcony) it has a bathroom alongside.
David has amazing memories of life here, including a bizarre incident that made it into lawyer Sally's company newsletter. The known vegetarian cheerfully advised work she'd be in later as she needed to help tow a steer out of the creek with the tractor after "rye grass staggers" made it fall into the drink. David currently holds breeding stock of Dorper sheep.
He knows the home and grounds are larger than he needs for himself so has decided to sell.
