SCHOOL ZONES:
Helensville School, Kaipara
College.
CONTACT:
Lisa-Maree Wallen, Ray White, ph 021
666 741 or 376 2186.
FEATURES:
Self-sufficient four-bedroom eco
home with large open-plan living spaces and
sheltered outdoor room with bush and valley
views. Self-contained one-bedroom cottage.
Taking their dog for weekend walks led to a dramatic change in lifestyle for Michelle Gimblett and Jake Morgan.
The couple would regularly exercise Oscar, their boxer-bull mastiff cross, on the beach beside Woodhill Forest, and up until three years ago they had been living in a two-bedroom ex-state house in Westmere. But an off-the-grid eco home in Woodhill caught their eye.
Jake says he and Michelle were "classic tyre-kickers", coming to look at the home after seeing it advertised but with no expectation of buying it.
"We never thought we would be able to afford it but the agent persuaded us to put in an offer, and we were quite shocked when it was accepted," says Michelle.
"The fact that it was sustainably built was what really attracted us to the house, as well as it being an amazing house."
Jake says the large, light-filled spaces caught their imagination and the view over mature covenanted bush and the valley blew them away.
Designed by Bret de Thier, the cedar home has energy efficient appliances, is fully insulated and solar-powered with a back-up diesel generator and radiators for heating, in addition to a woodburner. Jake says because the home has such a large roof area, they have never struck problems with the water tanks running empty. He and Michelle upgraded the solar-power system, which can be tied into the grid if future owners want security of supply or to sell excess energy back into the grid.
Sitting on a sloping site, the home has a rustic look with a simple shed-like structure. However, that belies the elegant spaces inside and the craftsmanship in the wooden joinery.
A large portico provides shelter as you enter the home, which has a timber-floored open-plan living, dining and kitchen area with a high-stud and an array of skylights. "The skylights almost glow with light at dusk,' says Jake, who is a photographer. To the left of the front door is a lounge area with a woodburner, while to the right is the "library" space with a rimu bookshelf that Jake salvaged from a convent. The granite-benched kitchen has a gleaming, gas-fired Aga oven range and a smaller oven.
The living space and two of the bedrooms - one of which is the master and the other used as an office - open to a deep, covered west-facing deck that runs the length of the house, providing an outdoor room that looks out over the valley and wetland. The deck provides a massive entertaining area, and is also a great play space for the couple's 16-month-old toddler Pippi.
A landing off the deck has a fully plumbed bath, where the couple can enjoy a relaxing soak and a drink at the end of the day.
"We used the bath a lot more before we had Pippi," laughs Michelle. "It's such a perfect deck to watch the sunset."
"It's something of a tradition for visitors to enjoy the bath," adds Jake. "We've got a lot of photos of visitors sitting in the bath with a glass of wine in the evening."
Jake says the birdlife in the bush is a constant delight, while the crimson flowering of the abundant pohutukawa is an annual highlight.
Behind the house are outbuildings and a cottage, which the couple think was the original home on the site. They have used this as a studio in the past but have recently been renting it out through the Bookabach website.
Michelle, who works in PR, says business opportunities opening up overseas mean the family may be doing a bit of travel so they are selling up.
"We might not be around too much in the future but we do plan to stay in the area."
