Our guide to the best properties on the market.
1. The house that Nancy created
30 Upland Road, Remuera: If you’re an avid gardener, especially one who adores roses, the name Nancy Steen will be familiar. Nancy (1898-1986) was a talented graphic artist, who worked with the renowned Len Lye producing sublime watercolours and stunning linocuts.
She was renowned for pioneering an extensive collection of heritage roses, and she wrote The Charm of Old Roses, in 1966, a rose lover’s bible.
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The magical Nancy Steen Garden in the Parnell Rose Gardens was dedicated to her in 1984.
Most of the roses Nancy produced were grown in her expansive garden at the huge property she and husband David developed at 30 Upland Rd.
When they bought it in 1944 it was a vast sweep of bare land. They had architect Geoffrey Rix-Trott design a home in classical style, while they set about landscaping garden rooms separated by flowing stone pathways set around a tennis court.
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2. Once upon a dream home
45 Korora Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island: In their children’s books as well as in their daily lives, Mark and Rowan Sommerset believe in following dreams - with son Linden, 9, along for the ride. Not surprisingly, their publishing company is called Dreamboat, and on Waiheke Island, close to the sea in a spot where the sun almost always seems to be shining, they’ve created a magical dreamlike property, which they say inspires and energises them every day.
The journey began five years ago when they first spied the 1399sq m section, beside a picturesque private vineyard, minutes from the water, on one side, and from Oneroa Village on the other.
“There was an old bach with outside toilet on the site and the owner had lived here for thirty years,” says Rowan. “We pulled it down quickly, and had the land levelled.”
Inspired by their favourite TV show, Grand Designs, the couple began a planning process and before long, a large, architecturally-designed home looked to be in the works.
“But then, it began to dawn on us that this actually wasn’t what we wanted,” says Mark.
They decided to start small, leaving future possibilities open.
The result was an eclectic combination of a cedar-clad barn a plywood interior and a large yurt - a circular building that’s like a tent, but also has collapsible framing, so it can be moved from place to place. Nomads in Central Asia often live in yurts.
At 42sqm, the barn certainly fulfilled the Sommersets’ dream of living in a small but very functional space with a simple yet effective kitchen and laundry, toilet and shower, plus a loft.
Rowan designed it, with help from an architectural draftsman, and it was built over the course of a year by local builder Dave Hastings, with Mark as his assistant.
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3. 1910 villa that can be so much more than a home
16 Cleveland Road, Parnell: Dan Warren and his wife Sophia Quilian were living in Onehunga and wanted to shorten travelling time to Auckland’s CBD. Sophia had been through this villa but Don had seen it only from the outside.
Says Sophia: “I’d really liked it but with everything it offered I thought it would be the sort of property we wouldn’t be able to buy until next time around.”
“It was perfect given we’ve got two boys and this is grammar zoned and central but with lots of green space nearby.
“It’s north-facing with four bedrooms, a double garage and a good amount of land.”
The couple knew the property was empty, so Dan did some last minute recognisance on the morning of the auction.
“I biked here on the way to work, jumped the fence, peered through windows and had a good look under the house,” he says.
“That gave me an idea of its condition and I knew Sophia had had a good look.”
They stretched their budget to buy it and have lived here with sons Joseph, 12, and George, 10, for nine years.
“It’s been a great place for a family,” says Sophia.
The couple know developers may also be interested in its 635sq m section, zoned for H6 residential terrace and apartment buildings.
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4. Playground for adventurers
54 Tamatea Drive, Snells Beach: This holiday property at Snells Beach has been like a second home for Vicki Chappell, Chas Cable and their children. “This has been a special place to bring our children,” says Vicki.
“They have met other children here and spent hours out on the sand, having as much fun playing when the tide is out as when it was in.”
Vicki and Chas bought the house in early 2003, when their two children were aged 18 months and two-and-a-half. “We were looking for a beach house and this was the first open home that we went to,” says Chas.
Vicki says they liked the position of the house and that the lounge got all-day sun. “It was so clean and tidy, a low-maintenance house.” They moved in at Easter and had their first swim that weekend.
“The water was incredibly warm, even in April,” says Chas. “In the middle of summer it is as warm as a bath when the tide comes in.”
Vicki and Chas pretty much spent every weekend at Snells, driving from their rented house in Auckland on Friday nights. “It was just such an easy commute and it was so relaxing,” says Vicki.
The home has a block base with brick walls on a wooden frame and an iron roof. There is also a drive-through garage with room for two cars and a boat.
“It’s a simple one-level 80s beach house but the layout works well,” says Chas
The kitchen and the lounge have a nice flow and, along with the adjacent master bedroom, enjoy sea views.
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5. Put a cork in it with these blockbusters
55-61 Kedge Drive, Mangawhai: Ten years is a long time to go between holiday houses. So as their three kids were getting into their early 20s, John Eady and Kelley Eady-Loveridge decided it was time to dip their toe into the second home market again.
“We’d done a lifestyle build in the past, but then we had 10 years without a fixed holiday spot,” says John. “We made a spontaneous decision to go up to Mangawhai, as we all love the sea and water, and the east coast. We didn’t go anywhere else.
“It was a private sale, we had no idea what we were buying. It was right on two ponds, there’s a board walk and we thought that part was public land. We discovered it’s a lovely thriving community. There are great places to go and wonderful walks, and of course proximity to the coast.”
The couple are design aficionados, so after they settled on the property in 2015 — and discovered the ponds were theirs — photographer Kelley and John happily played with designs, going through multiple iterations. They’d also had a hand in designing the delightful showrooms and cafe of the family’s music business, Lewis Eady , so were no strangers to building.
“We were re-dipping our toes into having a bach, and to see if we really liked the area, so we didn’t want to sink huge money into the build,” says John. “We wanted something simple, to meet our needs without stretching ourselves.
“Arriving at the scheme of two identical pods was about iteration five or six. And as I’m a businessman, I have an aversion to baches sitting empty, so we decided to make it rentable on Airbnb to pay the rates.”
The striking design of the two cedar-clad pods with black cork interiors has charmed other holidaymakers, with more than 50 nights’ bookings in their first summer last season (bookings are in place for this summer until final sale settlement in mid-January), plus many a family holiday.
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