Some people love the crashing fury of waves at wild beaches such as Piha. Alex Williams prefers the endless slow ebb and flow of the tides through the mangroves in the Meola Estuary at the bottom of his Pt Chevalier garden.
“It’s the highlight of the property,” he says. “I grew up in the Kaipara so I spent my life around the mangroves. Although the house is lovely, it’s secondary.
“This really is a coastal sanctuary. It’s so tranquil. There’s no traffic noise. You’re really secluded. Pt Chev is a peninsula and Lister St is a cul de sac at the end of the peninsula.
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“As I drive out onto the peninsula from work, I feel an ease coming over me. Then I arrive and the quiet is fantastic.”
Just 15 minutes to the central city, the property is ecologically important as it sits along a waterfront green belt and feels rural, like a yesteryear orchard.
A wide, sunny elevated deck off the living looks out over a big level lawn, which drops to an expansive organic vegetable garden. Shell pathways head through peach trees, feijoas and avocado trees heaving with fruit.
Down to the waterfront it goes, past a timber sleepout — a romantic haven for guests — to a floating jetty in the mangroves where Alex often fishes for flounder or kahawai. His four children have stashed kayaks and paddleboards ready to take up the river to Meola Reef.
Much has changed since Alex, his wife Mandy Bunce and their children arrived 20 years ago. Back then, the sloping land was covered in a tangle of privet and gorse with a small two-bedroom state house on it.
“People said we were mad,” says Alex. “But it was such a lovely site that required sensitive development.”
Alex was determined for a “touch the earth lightly” approach and to create a lifestyle block feel with a sense of space around the house.
They lived here for two years to gain an understanding of the orientation to the sun, prevailing winds and soil type before they made any changes. This was to be his family’s forever home.
Although it is now much bigger, on three levels with four bedrooms, the house has kept its state house integrity.
“State houses were beautifully made with beautiful materials,” he says. “The challenge was to retain the essence but create a much bigger, more modern home.
“Everything was kept original — all the joinery, flooring and doors is heart rimu. At that stage, everyone was getting rid of their timber.”
On the top level, a master suite opens to a balcony. From here, Alex can watch herons in the tree outside or kingfishers hunting in the water.
“You can hear the moreporks at night. It’s a wonderful bedroom, separate from the children, for our own space.”
Alex dug underneath the expanded footprint for a garage, large workshop and storage, because he didn’t want to take up valuable garden space.
A games room for a pool table could convert to another bedroom.
The property is now available for another family to love.
10 LISTER ST, PT CHEVALIER, AUCKLAND
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car parking
SIZE (more or less): House 227sq m, land 1067sq m.
PRICE: $2,980,000.
INSPECT: By appointment.
SCHOOLS: Pt Chevalier Primary, Western Springs College.
CONTACT: Jo de Beer, The Professionals 027 469 4148.
