She’s supervised film shoots in some of the world's most picturesque locations but Melanie Bridge’s favourite spot is Matakatia, on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
Bridge is joint CEO of global TV and film company The Sweetshop and knows a thing or two about the perfect backdrop. Her company has produced countless commercials and documentaries but for Bridge the idyllic bay she calls home is “paradise” – and one she is reluctantly selling.
Bridge told OneRoof: “I’ve travelled the world for my job, seeing amazing places but I know it’s a fantastic lifestyle here in this beautiful little bay.
“There are about 30 houses along the beachfront with a little road in front and it’s only a couple of metres from our property to the sand.
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“It’s paradise for people who like swimming, fishing, paddleboarding, boating and water-skiing or walking your dogs along the beach. We often feel like we’re in Fiji.”
Bridge and her husband Jack had been living on a farm in Paremoremo, on Auckland’s North Shore, when they stumbled upon Matakatia Bay while out on a drive.
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“We saw a perfect, sleepy beachside street and the clearest turquoise water we’ve seen in Auckland,” she said.
“It was evening, and there was a family having fish ’n’ chips at a picnic table, seagulls squawking, swimmers, a water-skier, and yachts on the horizon.”
They were enchanted but unfortunately, there were no properties for sale. A few years later in 2021 they heard that a 1990s Lockwood at 18 Matakatia Parade was for sale. They bought it for $2.221m and initially planned to use it as a bach.
However, Bridge soon decided the house should be their permanent home after spending a short period there repainting the interiors.
Owner Melanie Bridge gave the Lockwood house a bright and light makeover. Photo / Supplied
The Bridge family compare the bay to the best of Fiji. Photo / Supplied
She said it was the right move, and in her listing on OneRoof she listed all the highlights. “We’ve hosted parties, celebrated Christmas on the beach, and my mother’s wedding at 80 under the pohutukawas. Our boys have waterskied, paddleboarded with dolphins, spearfished snapper 50 metres offshore, and caught kahawai from the grass. We’ll never leave this bay, having moved just two doors down.”
The home can operate as a four-bedroom dwelling, as its three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence and downstairs one-bedroom, one-bathroom granny flat can easily be combined.
Upstairs there’s a front deck overlooking the sea, plus a covered rear deck.
Along the upper front are the living area, kitchen and master bedroom. The latter has a walk-through wardrobe to a bathroom which also serves the second upstairs bedroom.
Melanie Bridge, right, with her Sweetshop co-founder Sharlene George. Photo / Sweetshop
Downstairs is another bedroom, bathroom and laundry plus the one-bedroom one-bathroom apartment which could suit as an Airbnb rental.
The home has an internal-access triple garage plus a carport, large concrete boat-washing area and terraced rear grounds.
Listing agent Ben Gibson, from Harcourts, told OneRoof houses in the bay rarely came up for sale: “On average you don’t even get one sale a year in this tightly-held bay, offering the sort of idyllic lifestyle many of us remember from childhood.
“You could live here full-time, nipping home on the ferry after dinner with friends in town, or treasure this as an easy-to-reach bach.”
- 18 Matakatia Parade, Matakatia, Rodney, goes to auction on July 21
