Finding a property brimming with potential in an easily reached semi-rural location in Rodney inspired Carleen and her partner Neil to take on a labour of love. They’ve recently completed thorough transformation of what once was a 1970s home but is now modern and highly specified.
Neil says: “Haigh Access Road, which runs off East Coast, is like a slice of paradise. It’s so private, yet it starts only about five kilometres from Northcross and is handy to the motorway.”
They bought this property 19 years ago, going on to build a residence out the front on land they subdivided off, leaving themselves this home on a respectable 2.07 hectares. When they purchased, they were only the third owners of the 1970s home, updated but still retaining features such as dark green vanities.
Neil says: “It had too good a bones to pull down, sitting in a great position on the land.”
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Carleen says: “It’s been changed almost entirely. The external wall framing is original but the cladding is different and there’s only one original piece of internal wall framing left.”
They replaced upper level cladding with the strong vertical lines of Hardie Axon panels, plastering the concrete block base for a modern aesthetic. They reconfigured the layout, re-plumbed, re-wired and installed double glazing, plus insulated both external and internal walls for warmth and reduced noise transmission.
47 Haigh Access Road in Redvale, Rodney, is on the market for sale by a set date closing May 25. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom property on 2.07 hectares has a 2021 RV of $1.85 million.
The current owners reconfigured the layout of the original 1970s home, re-plumbed, re-wired, and installed double glazing and insulation. Photo / Supplied
Listing agent Ryan Dixon, of Ray White, says: “Newly renovated, the home brings a sense of understated elegance that is completely turn-key. Buyers appreciate that you get all the benefits of a countryside lifestyle. However, through thoughtfulness and design, the property is relatively low maintenance.”
The kitchen is new; bathrooms all fully tiled with underfloor heating.
Carleen says: “It’s been completed to a very high standard so new owners can just move in and enjoy it, occasionally jumping on a ride-on to do the lawns, which take about an hour.”
Visitors initially see little from the road. Neil says: “Then they drive up the driveway and come up through a few trees to arrive at the platform of land where the house is and they always say ‘wow’.”
The two-storey home’s exterior is now black with karaka green eaves to complement its environment. There’s substantial gravelled off-street parking in front of the home, which has a fully waterproofed double carport plus a separate six-vehicle garage.
The main living area flows out to a beautifully private 130sqm north-west facing deck, admiring the property’s stand of covenanted bush frequented by birdlife. Photo / Supplied
The two-storey home’s exterior is black with karaka green eaves to complement its environment, and has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a double carport and garaging for vehicles. Photo / Supplied
Land contour means entry is into the lower level while the main living, which is great for entertaining, is upstairs. It flows out to a beautifully private 130sqm north-west facing entertaining deck, admiring the property’s stand of covenanted bush frequented by birdlife.
Upstairs’ living-dining-kitchen-scullery now has premium Haro engineered flooring, a powerful wood-burning fireplace and an entertainers’ double-oven kitchen. This level’s master suite with walk-in wardrobe and ensuite harbouring a freestanding bath also opens to the deck, accompanied by another bedroom and bathroom.
Entry level has a media room-breakout lounge, three bedrooms including a particularly large ensuited one with walk-in wardrobe, outdoor access and work-from-home potential, a separate bathroom, separate laundry and powder room.
The couple’s extensive planting includes nearly 1000 natives. Grounds include a buffer of planting between this home and the one in front, lawn, a vegetable garden, mass planting of star jasmine near the deck and a fescue-covered slope which need not be mowed.
Carleen and Neil are relocating to Taranaki.
