After couple Nina and Roy tried unsuccessfully to find an existing Omaha holiday home to suit them, they turned to their long-time personal friends, architects Lindy and Colin Leuschke of Leuschke Group.
Combine their architectural skill with a section one back from the beach, sharing a private right-of-way heading towards the shore, and the result is this impressive and distinctive three-year-old home.
Nina says: “The design of it is beautiful. At the same time it feels very relaxed, a wonderful place to spend time with family and friends. Our children can tootle down to the beach with our grandchildren in a couple of minutes, then come back, rinse off in the outdoor shower and jump into the pool.”
Leuschke Group have designed a lot of Omaha homes, often working with Warkworth-based Brackenridge builders as they did here.
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Nina and Roy had contracted Brackenridge previously as about a decade ago the Leuschkes had recommended them when designing a Takapuna property for the couple.
31 Kewai Street in Omaha, Rodney, is on the market for sale by negotiation. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom residence with a double garage on a 776sqm section has a 2021 RV of $3.425 million. It last changed hands in 2018 for $1.375m.
Nina and Roy first stayed in this holiday home at Christmas 2020. It is constructed of Nu-Wall metal cladding and cedar.
Nina says: “When you come through the front door you look right through the home out to the pool and palms, and also up to a little suspended bridge connecting the stairs to our bedroom upstairs.”
When the homeowners couldn’t find an existing residence, they asked long-time friends architects Lindy and Colin Leuschke, of Leuschke Group, to design one for them. Photo / Supplied
Warkworth-based Brackenridge builders were contracted to build the home. Photo / Supplied
The staircase draws the eye, aesthetically striking with its combination of steel, timber and tubular steel balustrading set against an interior concrete wall.
A 5.5-metre-high spine running through the home culminates in a soaring sloped ceiling with exposed beams in the living-dining-gourmet kitchen with scullery.
Relaxed during the day, uplights on the beams add drama at night. This sunny space with polished concrete floors also has huge sliding doors opening much of it to outdoors on three sides.
“There’s a wonderful feeling of openness.”
A LouvreTech-covered patio outside accompanies an outdoor fireplace sheathed in corten steel. This material also sheathes the large inverted L-shape water feature able to shower swimmers in the heated pool.
A backyard gate from their 776sqm section opens into a shared private right-of-way, quickly passing through a reserve to reach the beach.
“Because we weren’t going to have a beach outlook I briefed our landscaper to create an oasis, which I feel she’s achieved, bringing in large scale plants and trees.”
The striking staircase draws the eye, with its combination of steel, timber and tubular steel balustrading set against an interior concrete wall. Photo / Supplied
A 5.5-metre-high spine running through the home culminates in a soaring sloped ceiling with exposed beams in the living-dining-gourmet kitchen with scullery. Photo / Supplied
Off the ground floor hallway, a powder room and laundry sit opposite an impactful entire wall of timber. Big timber sliding doors set into this open to an additional lounge or media room, cosy in winter thanks to the home’s ducted heating-cooling. It feeds three ensuited bedrooms, all opening outdoors.
Upstairs’ sizeable ensuited master suite has a hidden door behind the mirror in its walk-in wardrobe. Behind this are two little loft rooms the grandchildren love; the first with fold-out ottomans for sleeping.
“My granddaughter said, very seriously, ‘you can’t keep telling people it’s a secret room because you tell everybody about it’.”
The neighbouring second loft area, set up as a playroom, can also be reached via a ladder from a downstairs bedroom.
Changing family dynamics mean Nina and Roy are finding they’re increasingly using their South Island holiday home and not utilising this one enough.
Bayleys agent Joneen Smith says: “The feeling when you walk into this home is absolutely wonderful. The architectural features are amazing and the entire property is beautifully finished.”
- 31 Kewai Street in Omaha, Rodney, is for sale by negotiation
