For Sue and Ken Stirling, this rural gem in Warkworth has gone above and beyond everything they dared hope for when they moved here seven years ago.
This home mended their broken hearts, with a charm that exceeded its privacy, design style and protected native bush views.
Their heartbreak was the forced sale of their near-new home on Wyllie Road to make way for the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway extension, the route of which had not been confirmed when they subdivided to build their retirement home.
That was then – and 5km to the west of Warkworth – and this is now.
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“This house brought us solace,” Sue says of 125 Sandspit Road.
“It helped ease the loss. It has a lovely feel to it and it has been the most wonderful house for us all, especially when our grandchildren would call in for a swim on the way home from school.”
Says Jeneen Binsted of Harcourts, “It is a rarely available quality country estate, so conveniently close to Warkworth amenities.”
Built in 2000 by local builder Richard Wilcox, this 322sqm home was the perfect antidote and they wasted no time making it their own.
They whipped the lids off their favourite warm, restful neutral Resene ‘Pavlova’ wall colour that came with them from their previous home.
Here they updated the country-style kitchen with a new pantry, new appliances and new engineered stone benches extended to add a casual eating area to their lifestyle vibe. They added a covered loggia over the deck by the solar-heated pool.
“The kitchen windows open up and you can hand food straight outside when you are entertaining. I love that feature, it’s terrific,” Sue says.
Their views from the kitchen are enviable, whether it’s out to grazing sheep, the bush of the Dome Valley or the nearby covenanted native bush reserve.
Off their ensuite there’s a private spa pool. Thoughtful design means that areas within this five-bedroom home can be closed off for the privacy of visiting out-of-town friends and family.
Elsewhere there’s still more room for all, from the large attic inside the large garage to Ken’s rear barn/workshop and motorhome garage.
Their nine brown shavers have their own free-range chicken run and they keep this extended family in eggs, with surplus eggs going to Warkworth’s community food bank.
Turning into their property, the only glimpse of the house is the garage and the front door. It ensures their privacy from their nearest neighbours, two of whom share their main driveway.
For Ken, a retired plumber who captained New Zealand’s rugby league team in the 1970s, this home’s favourite features have been “privacy and location”.
Sue adds, “It had everything we needed.” It is, they agree, a combination of their previous two homes.
This time, the decision to sell is theirs alone, albeit reluctantly. “We were really lucky to find this property,” Sue says.
They’re looking for a smaller home for just the two of them, as they eye up their new motorhome with more travel in mind.
125 Sandspit Road in Warkworth will be auctioned on July 3.
