SCHOOL ZONES:
Bayfield Primary, Ponsonby Intermediate, Western Springs College, Auckland Girls’ Grammar.
CONTACT:
Robyn Clark, Bayleys, 021 707 529.
AUCTION:
May 6.
For the past four years, former Team New Zealand yachtie Jeremy Scantlebury has enjoyed an entirely new perspective on the waves of the Waitemata Harbour.
Far from the scale of the America's Cup action when he was pitman on Team New Zealand for its 1995 win and 2000 defence, he has been pushing his own boat out from the bottom of his garden.
He does it with his daughters, Olivia, 13, and Mia, 11, in their Laser that lives in their boatshed alongside his paddleboarding gear, kayaks and the sails for his Etchell racing yacht. He's out on these waters as often as possible, given his commitments as the owner of a property facilities company.
He'll also round up mates to race radio-controlled yachts around markers beyond the boat ramp, with the Hobsonville Marina and the Birkenhead/Chelsea Wharf coastline as the backdrop.
This is where the Scantlebury family swims, the kids and their friends eat fish and chips and where Jeremy and Jodie have hosted some of their most memorable parties, when they're not away on their launch during summer weekends.
Inside, they can still see and hear the waves lapping the beach alongside the boatshed that hunkers down beneath the pohutukawa tree the previous owners clipped to open up the distant views.
Yet as a lad, growing up into a professional sailor, Jeremy never gave more than a passing thought to living on the water's edge.
"I guess I never thought I'd be lucky enough," he says. "I'm certainly going to miss this point of view, that's for sure."
Image 1 of 9: America's Cup yachtie is never far from the sea in this city property on the water's edge
The Scantlebury family moved here in 2011, swapping life in a renovated villa nearby for this 1940s brick-and-tile home with Art Deco-style curves.
"This is a house that you need to live in for a while to really appreciate how well designed it is," says Jodie. "Then you can see how well positioned it is for the sun, how well proportioned it is and how the spaces work.
"Friends who've renovated their own homes have come in here and been amazed at how well this house has worked. When all the fires are roaring in winter and you can see the tinkle of the lights on the water, it is just fantastic."
This couple arrived here intending to make changes to the finer points in and around the house. In the end, they did little more than repaint throughout and modernise what is now Jeremy's bathroom, built to incorporate the laundry and an open shower suitable for wheelchair access. They kept the wide, wetroom-style shower and relocated the laundry downstairs near their guest bedroom and Jodie's jewellery design studio and office.
Jodie also saw potential for incorporating the back porch into a scullery for an updated kitchen, but decided against making any changes.
Meanwhile, Jeremy points out how few water's-edge homes in Herne Bay have such easy access to the water, and comparatively few of those also have a boatshed. Many other homes along this stretch are on clifftop sites until you get nearer further east towards the beaches, he says.
Years ago, this property was the rose garden for the house to the west, and the property to the east was the tennis court. The original scoria retaining walls for this front garden remain, as does the basalt/scoria retaining area by the shared access to the beach.
Jeremy and Jodie see scope for extensions up and out from their house, but they've decided to shift closer to their daughters' school in Epsom.
"We need a home for teenagers and we're a good few years away from being ready to do what we need to do to this home," she says.
