- Cristine and Paul Andrew are selling their A-frame ski chalet to build a home at Te Kowhai Airpark.
- The family spent less time at the chalet due to their sons' sports commitments and other opportunities.
- The chalet, marketed by Jenny Dekker, attracts buyers interested in holiday homes and Airbnb potential.
A Waikato family who built their dream A-frame ski chalet two years ago are selling up to buy a home where they can taxi their private plane right to the door.
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Cristine and Paul Andrew decided to build a holiday home in National Park after their young boys developed a love for skiing, but now that their children have grown up, they have decided to put the property on the market.
The couple had been staying at a hotel when they hit the mountain until they found an empty section they liked for sale in 2020.
They had been looking in Ohakune and National Park but ended up settling on National Park because it was more convenient and 30 minutes closer to home.
The holiday home was two years ago, and boasts many luxury touches. Photo / Supplied
Paul told OneRoof: “We saw a section down there one day, which seemed quite cheap, so we decided to buy it. Then we started looking at what sort of houses we could build. We knew we didn't want to build just a stock standard house."
The land developer’s requirements for the section were that any home built had to be in keeping with the alpine theme and this suited the couple.
“We've always liked A-frames, and we had looked at a few of the older ones ourselves, but they were usually very small and quirky,” Paul said.
“We needed something more substantial. We also wanted a house that was modern, warm, and something we could rent out on Bookabach or Bachcare when we were not using it.”
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They spoke with a friend who ran a building company and one of his architects designed an A-frame style house for them.
The couple loved the design for the three-bedroom, one-bathroom home as soon as they saw it.
“Basically, we changed nothing from the very first drawings he designed. We loved it. So, we then went down the A-frame route, which was actually quite tricky because there's no standard for A-frame house [plans] anymore.”
Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic intervened and the original building company shut up shop, which slowed down the build progress.
“We got caught up with the whole Covid issues - no availability of equipment and prices going out of control,” Paul said. “But we were committed to building it, so we just carried on and got there.”
The owners are selling up now that their children are getting older. Photo / Supplied
Paul’s cousin Daryl Andrew of Hamilton-based DK Building Limited then stepped into finish the home.
“We're really pleased with how it's come out.”
However, with the family not spending as much time at their holiday home as they would have liked and another opportunity to build a new home arising, they have decided to sell.
Their sons were now in their teens and the family’s weekends were now occupied with sports, which also made it harder to get down to National Park.
“We have busy lives,” Paul said. “The last couple of years have been a problem with the mountain, obviously. We hadn't for those reasons bought season passes, and then because we hadn't bought season passes, we weren't as motivated to use [the home] as we probably should have been,” he added.
The family now plans to build a new home in the Te Kowhai Airpark, near their current main home, and will use the proceeds of the National Park sale to fund it. Paul is one of the developers of the air park and the couple is buying one of the Stage 1 sections.
Once the family’s new house is built at the air park, Paul and Cristine will be able to park at their front door the Cirrus SR22 light plane they own a share of.
The bach is a modern take on a traditional ski chalet. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys listing agent Jenny Dekker, who is marketing the Andrews’ property, said it was a bold move for the vendors to build an A-frame given most new dwellings in the area are single-level. “It’s very interesting to have a modern take on an old classic ski chalet.”
Dekker said that potential buyers who had made contact were out-of-towners looking to buy a holiday home.
“They are encouraged because Whakapapa has got the lease to run the mountain for the next 10 years. So there is a bit of positivity in the area, and it’s also becoming very popular for all year-round hiking, mountain biking, and fishing. The person purchasing it would possibly do Airbnb so they get a little bit of income when they're not using it.”
She added that there were very few high-quality new build homes in the area, which made this property even more desirable.
A-frame houses built in the 1970s and 1980s are more common in the Ruapehu district than anywhere else in the country.
The ski village, which opened in 1979, featured chalet and A-frame style lodges, catering to visitors. The architectural style took off in the local towns of Ohakune, Raetihi, and National Park Village. The appeal was further bolstered by the DIY culture prevalent at the time.
Of the A-frame houses for sale in New Zealand currently, five of the nine on the OneRoof site at the time of writing are based in the Ruapehu District.
21 Findlay Street, National Park, Ruapehu, has an asking price of $849,000