SCHOOL ZONES:
Matakana Primary School, Mahurangi College.
CONTACT:
Shailenne Parkes, Bayleys, 021 117 9142.
A chance conversation at a Christmas party led to the Salmon family securing a coastal property that has served as a blissful retreat for 25 years.
Peter Salmon recalls a bank manager at the party telling him about the land he had bought on the Tawharanui Peninsula, the house he was going to build and that there were other sections still for sale.
That piqued his interest as he and wife Rita had already begun taking their three children to Tawharanui beach.
When they saw the ridge-top site, part of it was being grazed by cattle while the remainder was "a lovely stand of native bush", and there were views to the south over Kawau Bay.
After buying the site, they commissioned architect Kerry Hitchcock to design an easy-care beach home.
"Our brief was a low-maintenance build and he was inspired by an Australian architect, Glen Murcutt, who built a number of highly regarded houses in Australia with corrugated iron cladding," says Peter.
Other stipulations were that it must have an open fireplace, and the home should be compact so there wasn't too much to look after.
Although Peter concedes that philosophy changed over the years with the arrival of grandchildren. A "multi-purpose room" was added to the house and has served as a study/TV room/guest room, and they also built a barn, which has garaging, laundry, bathroom and bunkroom downstairs with kitchen, living area and another bedroom upstairs.
Peter says "at a pinch" and with the help of a pup tent, the property can house them, their three children and their partners and nine grandchildren.
Over the years, the home has served as a base for summer holidays with the family enjoying swimming, bush walks, fishing, kayaking and sailing.
"I've sailed small yachts for many years," says Peter. "I still have a Laser and we've taken that out to Kawau Island."
The beachy feel of the home is reinforced by its open-plan layout, timber floors and whitewashed poplar lining and ceilings.
The main rectangular-shaped living space has a kitchen with painted cupboards that flows though to a dining room with wide doors opening to decks either side. The northern deck has a bush outlook, while the southern one looks out to sea.
"One thing I found about the place is the wonderful quality of the silence and the starry nights in the absence of the city lights," says Peter.
Image 1 of 5: Open-plan layout, timber floors and whitewash give summer base a beachy feel and the sound of silence is wonderful. Photos / Supplied
A couple of steps take you down from the dining space to the lounge with its open fire and bush outlook. Through sliding doors on the opposite side is the spare room.
Upstairs, the main bedroom has wide windows looking out to the bush. "It's a wonderful place to lie in bed in the morning and watch the birds flying around," says Peter.
On this level there is an en suite in addition to the main bathroom downstairs.
While the Salmons have replanted much of the grazed land, the property still has some grassed areas. "One particularly fine day we put tables up on the lawn by the barn and sat there looking out to sea and that was very pleasant," says Peter.
He says it will be "a wrench" to sell but the time is right. "For the first 20 years or so we owned the place we would spend six weeks up there over Christmas, and in summer go up there every weekend or so. But it's got less and less over the past couple of years," says Peter.
"Now that our children have their own holiday places we don't use it so much anymore. Now that we are getting older we like to travel or spend time with our grandchildren, all of whom are in Auckland.
"We think the time has come to allow some lucky family to enjoy what we've enjoyed over the years."
