The villa at 65 Lincoln Road in Mangawhai Heads once sat near the waterfront in St Heliers, where it was known as the doctor’s home.
Helen Gillespie and Jack Rosen bought the home from Lionel and Adrienne Joyce, who had shipped the house up the coast in 1997.
Says Helen: “When I mention we have the white house at the end of Lincoln Rd, people from Mangawhai say they remember it sitting out on the barge in the estuary.
“I often fantasise, what if you were a fisherman sitting by Rangitoto and this house floated by? Wouldn’t you think you had been drinking too much? That would be a good fishing story.
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“We have photos hanging on the wall of the house floating past Rangitoto. I’ll leave them for the next owner because that’s part of the heritage.”
Helen and Jack bought the house from the Joyces in 2004. “I’m a Kiwi and my husband is from Canada,” says Helen.
“When we came back to New Zealand we were looking for a beach house up the coast. We found this property and our dog hurried across it as if to say ‘Hey, this is it!’
“We bought the two sections side-by-side with this home on one and a little old house on the other. We moved the other house off and we have built our dream bach right next door.”
Since 2008 both properties have served as holiday houses for the family and visitors. “But now we are selling the old home because most of our family are living overseas,” says Helen.
The two-storey house was built in the 1930s and is typical of St Heliers’ weatherboard villas.
A chimney was removed for the barge journey. In its place, french doors open to the deck that Helen and Jack added on two sides of the villa.
The roof is new, too. “We replaced it with all brand-new terracotta tiles because the previous roof was 90 years old and leaked like a sieve,” says Helen. “The new tiles look the same, only way better.”
The home’s layout has the big living room, dining and kitchen with water views on the first level.
There is a bedroom and en suite plus laundry at the back of the home, where the doctor’s surgery was all those years ago.
The living area opens to the deck in two directions. “You get the morning sun and the evening sun. And we can just walk across the property on to the beach. ”
They took out the front door near the staircase, replacing it with an oval window framing the view. However, they have kept the old door in the garage if anyone wants to put it back.
Upstairs are a bathroom and three-and-a-half bedrooms. “The little bedroom would have been a changing room and we put a single bed in there and use that for the little kids,” says Helen.
Landscaping has been done with plants — hibiscus, fig, canna lilies, yukka and bromeliads — that can handle the harsh climate.
“It was very dry over summer but, of course, that is perfect for summer vacations.”
They look across their large lawn at the sand dune. “It’s gorgeous, it changes shape and colour all the time because of the wind.
“One time we came up and the dune looked like a stegosaurus because it had all these peaks on it.
“You can paddle your kayak over, you climb up the sand dune and slide down on the boogie board. The kids like that.”
Near the sand dune is the new Tara Iti golf course “that Barack Obama flew to”.
Mangawhai and Mangawhai Heads are their closest villages for provisions, with Wellsford the nearest town.
“And looking out at night at Mangawhai, there are not many lights, so you have the most magnificent night sky.
“It is a great place for kids. A big house that is great for a family.”