This rural address, home to Richard and Dawn Prangley, is so peaceful Dawn's mother-in-law calls it her country retreat when she comes to stay.
The couple bought the 1ha lifestyle property with its three-bedroom contemporary home -- their first rural property -- about two-and-a-half years ago.
"We like the location;the garden setting is like an old English country garden -- all the native birds and you can't see a single neighbour," says Dawn.
They are about 10 minutes' drive from Kaukapakapa, 20 minutes from Helensville.
"You are in the middle of Warkworth one way and Orewa the other way, so you have the best of town and country and coast," she says.
Apart from heading off to work -- Dawn is a chef at Albany and Richard has a mowing franchise -- when it comes to free time, the couple tend to stay at home. "It is so quiet out here, we do a lot of entertaining at home. Why go anywhere when you have this?"
Dawn paints and finds inspiration in this rural setting. And she and Richard love to meander along the bush walk following the property's boundary stream. "We get wood pigeons, doves, pukeko, swallows, tui. We have so many kowhai trees and it's not unusual to see 40 tui in the trees," explains Dawn.
It's perfect for their 2 year-old grandson, too, when he visits. He adores playing on the garden swing, running in the paddocks and climbing the trees.
"We did think about setting up a family paintball for our grandson when he was older," says Dawn.
The couple grow veges and herbs, hens supply them with fresh eggs and there's also a few ducks. Citrus and walnut trees are flourishing.
Three fenced, gated paddocks are where they have kept a few sheep and also would be suitable for a horse, some weaners or alpacas.
"If we weren't leaving, I would be getting some goats and milking them and making my own cheese," says Dawn.
The one place that does draw them away from home is Matakana and its markets.
"There's a farmers' market on a Saturday and a craft market on a Sunday at Matakana every week. There is even a Nosh shop so you can get all your cheffy stuff, too," says Dawn. "We go to the local markets, the local cafes."
When the couple moved in, they made a few changes to the weatherboard timber home with its distinctive macrocarpa ceilings.
"We have kitted the kitchen, we have a new 900mm-wide Palmco oven with five gas hobs, new F&P double DishDrawers," she says. They widened the driveway, planted and tidied the property, redecorated the house and installed an outdoor pizza oven.
The L-shaped home has an open-plan living area -- kitchen, dining and lounge. Off the lounge is one bathroom and one bedroom. When you go through the door at the end of the lounge you turn left into a hallway. On the left is the second bedroom, a laundry in the middle, and, on the right, is the master bedroom and en suite.
Accessed from master bedroom, lounge and the dining room, are the decks and the concrete patio.
Image 1 of 4: Rural couple love this lifestyle block so much they want an even bigger one
"The long part of the deck is covered and we like sitting there listening to the birds; it opens out to the patio area, which is a great entertaining area and we have the pizza oven, the spa pool and the outdoor furniture there," says Dawn. "We sit in the spa pool at night and hear the moreporks."
The couple are selling to move further north.
"My brother had a big accident in February this year so we are going up there to give him a hand," explains Dawn. "We are hoping to buy something a bit bigger when we move. This is our first rural property and we love it. We're going to go bigger; we have had a taste for it."
