SCHOOL ZONES:
Coatesville Primary School, Albany Junior and Senior College.
CONTACT:
Shona Jurlina, Bayleys, ph 027 599 7022.
Owning this Coatesville property with its abundance of mature trees is like living in a park, say owners Dee and James Bailey.
Dee likens driving along the tree-lined entranceway to "going down Franklin Rd but you are in the country; you are going down your own driveway".
The couple, who have a 7-year-old boy, Harry, bought the property in 2010. They had been living on a Waitoki lifestyle block, but wanted to be closer to Albany and the city.
"I commute to Auckland daily," says Dee, "and James' business was based in Albany, so we wanted to be closer so he wasn't driving home too far.
"We were looking for an established property with privacy; somewhere we could put our horses on. We came across this house and its huge plane trees; it was like buying a park."
Dee was told the home was built by Sir Harold Innes and his wife as a country retreat. "I believe they established the trees, the oaks and the plane trees. He had the house designed and built in the 1970s. It is robust, a really solid structure.
"To us, it reflects the tropical -- the Bali or Fiji style. It is board and batten with concrete block and plaster finish. We have kept the original textured brick on part of it to retain some originality."
Recent renovations include a new kitchen and bathroom fittings.
"We have opened up the house so it has more indoor-outdoor flow and we have modernised all the joinery, to reflect the now, and put in bifolds. We have a louvre roof, a really nice dining area outside that leads to the pool. And we have a boardwalk in front of the house, and a pond down beside it. It has enhanced the tropical feel."
The layout has living areas in the hub of the house -- lounge, dining, TV/media room and kitchen with Caesarstone bench tops plus a scullery. "The whole point of the big kitchen is we do a lot of entertaining. That is where we all end up, so we thought we will build a big kitchen," says Dee.
Also downstairs is Harry's bedroom and en suite. An upstairs wing houses two more bedrooms, and in the privacy of the mezzanine is the master bedroom.
The gardens continue the tropical retreat theme: grasses, flaxes and bromeliads. "There's not too much maintenance. "
Dee says they have reinforced the island style with palms framing the solar-heated pool and outdoor entertaining area.
"We use the pool a lot. It is a big concrete pool, quite deep, and the boys love being able to dive in."
The property also has a lake, stream, dressage arena, horse boxes and several other outbuildings.
Dee says Coatesville is a fantastic area for people who enjoy the country setting and outdoors recreation, yet are still only 25 minutes from downtown Auckland. Riverhead Forest is popular with horse riders, mountain bikers and walkers. The markets and the cafe scene are also well patronised.
"That is our next project, and it's in the area. It gives us an opportunity to start from scratch. We will take a lot of the ideas from here and individualise them."
