Waimauku - The good life

A 70s house on a lifestyle block has been made bigger and better.

84 School Road, Waimauku.

As I arrive Stu Davies is cleaning up from midwife duties - he's just helped a lamb make its way into the world at the bottom of one his paddocks.

``One of the neighbours knocked on my door this morning to tell me I had a ewe down. Then she put on [his wife] Lynne's gumboots and came hooting over the paddocks with me to help,'' laughs Stu. ``That's the great thing about the people who live out here - they look out for you.''

Stu and Lynne have lived in this house on a hill northwest of Auckland for 14 years, and love everything about it.

The only reason they're moving is that they've done everything they feel they can to improve the place, but aren't ready to put their feet up just yet. They're looking for a new project.

What they're handing on is 6.4ha of pristine pasture, kept healthy with organic fertiliser. The well-fenced paddocks are full of lambs calling to their mothers among the 110 sheep that keep the grass short.

Rural views spread 360 degrees around the house, taking in surrounding farmland, bush and the Woodhill forest away to the west.

``It's just beautiful,'' enthuses Stu. ``Where else in the world could you look out at all this and be only half an hour from a big city?''

The house was, however, far from a pretty sight when the couple first saw it.

It had been used only for the odd party for several years, and was lived in only by wild cats. It was mouldy, full of cobwebs and was literally starting to fall to pieces.


Stu used a tractor to rip out a bougainvillea that had run rampant through the ceiling, and took half the roof with it.

``But we could see the potential,'' says Lynne. ``Our kids were grown up and we've both got big families - everyone pitched in and helped us make it liveable.''

She and Stu not only returned the 1970s house to its original comfortable feel, they made it bigger and better.

Douglas fir panelling was left with its dark stain in the dining room, but scrubbed to a lighter shade in the lounge.

This room stretches the width of the northern end of the house so you can enjoy the view in three directions. A woodburner in here helps heat the house when the sun isn't flooding in through the many northfacing windows.

A modern kitchen looks east across the garden - being both a chef and a landscape gardener in the past, Stu had a hand in both makeovers.

``I've had about five grandchildren in here doing school holiday baking,'' smiles Lynne.

While the cake's in the oven the grandchildren can run off to a large rumpus room created out of a former garage at the far end of the house.

A hallway boasting an impressive stained glass window leads from the living areas to the bedroom wing. Like the lounge, all three bedrooms open to the pool area through sliding doors. An office at the end gives access to a conservatory that runs the width of the western end of the house.

``It can be sunny but cold outside, but we can sit in here and be warm and have lunch looking out at the view,'' says Stu.

Lynne can't stand swimming in cold water, so the pool can be heated to 30C. A barbecue and fish smoking area is set up with electrical points to run as an outdoor kitchen for big gatherings.

The tall queen palms that grace the pool area, and create an impressive arrival up the driveway, were sourced from a local friend.

Mixed with Stu's expert selection of natives and exotics, the garden has a sub-tropical feel, with bursts of colour from camellias and that resilient bougainvillea, which is now trained around the water tank.

``It's the kind of place where we invite people to come with a toothbrush and a change of clothes so they can stay the night after dinner,'' says Stu.

``Then in the morning we take them mushroom picking in the paddocks, get a few eggs off the chooks at the back, and have another big cook-up on the barbie.''

Stu says he will miss ``everything'' about this property, but he and Lynne are also looking forward to their next adventure.

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGES: 4

SIZE: Land 6.4ha, house 280sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Properties of this nature in the area fetch upwards of $1.29 million. Auction August 12.

INSPECT: Sunday 3-3.45pm.

ON THE WEB: www.harcourts.co.nz #KM060704

CONTACT: Simon Spiller, Harcourts, ph 021 968 068, 411 7494.

FEATURES: Sprawling, homely 1970s house with office, conservatory and large rumpus room. Woodburner in lounge. Heated pool by barbecue and fish smoking area. Surround sound indoors and out. Garage/workshop and barn. Six fully-fenced paddocks. Close to Muriwai beach, Woodhill forest, shops, cafes and services at Waimauku, Kumeu and Helensville.