The owners of a Bay of Plenty lifestyle property came up with the out-of-the-box idea of installing an epic 36m waterslide with glow in the dark panels in their backyard as a novel way to fill up their bare backyard.
Owners Darryl and Taryn Angus had been at home during Covid lockdown looking at their 6565sqm grass section at 74D Walter Henry Drive, Omanawa, when they decided to turn it into their own adventure playground.
“It’s just one of those silly things you do in life to entertain yourself and keep yourself busy and be a bit creative. And then you get into it and go, ‘why am I doing this’,” Darryl Angus told OneRoof.
He started watching a second-hand waterslide on Trade Me during lockdown but missed out on it because his son had borrowed his phone and he didn’t hear the alarm he had set up to bid on it.
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So he started calling around local waterslide suppliers who were selling basic slides for about $12,000 before he looked into importing it from an overseas manufacturer.
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Suddenly the idea to add a rather simple waterslide to the heated inground pool they were building at the same time escalated, and he had ordered a large custom-made commercial hydroslide from China. The 36m long and 1m wide enclosed slide arrived in two shipping containers which he assembled with the help of engineers.
An existing concrete basketball court was bowled at the same time and replaced with a sprung absorbent floor, high fence and flood lights which light up both the pool and court at night.
“The slide itself kind of glows in the dark.”
The commercial quality waterslide comes out into a heated swimming pool. Photo / Supplied
The all-weather basketball court was built at the same time. Photo / Supplied
A large commercial-size shed was erected this year in the backyard, which had previously just been a place to ride motorbikes and go karts, and is now home to a pool and poker table.
In winter it transforms into a full games’ room and all the outside toys including the football goals are moved inside. “We almost set that up as the party room.”
Angus said it had been a “once-in-a-lifetime effort” creating such a fun backyard.
But the impressive play area did not come cheap and the slide alone had cost at least $100,000, the indoor heated swimming pool about $100,000 and the basketball court about $50,000.
“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thing to dream that up and do it and complete it and have it all functioning. It’s a pretty cool thing to have done.”
However, they have put the property on the market for sale because their three children were now in their teens and wanted to move closer to the city and to their friends. He has no plans to recreate the waterpark in their next home.
And while the outdoor area was a definite highlight of the house and a hit with all their friends, Angus said the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home which they built in 2017 had been a great family home. The three different lounges meant they had a separate kids lounge to the adults.
He said it would be the perfect home for a young family with primary age kids who wanted to have a lot of fun just as his family had.
“Everyone loves it and comes and uses it.”
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home was built by Golden Homes in 2017. Photo / Supplied
Tremains listing agent Clark Mazey said it was such a unique property and he had never seen anything like it.
While he had sold houses with tennis courts and swimming pools, he had never sold one with a waterslide, basketball court or even such an “outstanding shed”.
“When he (Darryl) does things, he does things properly.”
Mazey said he was standing at the top of the platform of the hydroslide at the weekend and was blown away.
“I was like this is actually some serious kit. It actually blew my mind. I was like this is actually like a commercial (waterpark) – it was like you were at Wet’n’Wild or Waiwera – it has been done to such a high standard.”
The property has an RV of $1.63 million, but Mazey said it would be well north of that to reflect all the improvements such as the shed and the hydroslide which had a combined value of around $450,000.
“The shed is a massive drawcard for the handyman or to work from home as well.”
- 74D Walter Henry Drive, in Omanawa, Bay of Plenty, goes to auction on November 20
