Bliss - with all the bells and whistles

72 Mangatawhiri Rd, Omaha.

72 MANGATAWHIRI RD, OMAHA

5

3

2

SIZE: Land 965sq m, house 361sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: CV $1.375 million. Auction July 10.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 2-2.45pm or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: bayleys.co.nz/187801

SCHOOL ZONES: Matakana, Warkworth, Snells Beach Primary schools, Mahurangi College. Contact: Paul or Ann Marie Elsden, Bayleys, ph 021 936 011 (Paul) or 021 060 9634 (Ann Marie).

CONTACT: Spacious home with multiple living areas, including separate media/games room plus loggia with gas fireplace. Golf course at rear boundary.

FEATURES: TEXT

Graham and Lindy MacDonald have enjoyed an idyllic lifestyle at Omaha for the past four or so years. They've been able to stand on their deck and coach their children at tennis as they play on the courts in the reserve next door.

Their kitchen, with its butler's pantry, is well set up for their chef son who comes over to cook celebration dinners for birthdays and other special occasions. They also enjoy views to Ti Point, Tawharanui and the Barrier Islands, and decks with all-day sun.

The beach is just across the road and down the path from their Mangatawhiri Rd home, but the MacDonalds also have their own pool with an adjoining media/games room.

They bought this 360sq m cedar-clad home in Omaha when it was half built, because, as Lindy explains, it was the only house on the market big enough for a couple with five children.

They'd come from a property with 14ha but were looking for a different lifestyle. So the brief was for a lock-up-and-leave place which was low maintenance, but had all the bells and whistles for a great lifestyle when they were there.

The children were in their late teens then and having their own space with the big, downstairs media room gave them a greater sense of independence while their parents enjoyed their own space upstairs.

The kids have flown the nest now, and it was perhaps that sense of independence that led four of the couple's offspring to club together and buy an apartment to share in Auckland.

Lindy agrees it is a pretty amazing thing for a group of 20-something siblings to do - "even just the fact that they actually want to live together," she laughs. "And it's great for us because it's pretty much a guarantee they won't be turning up with the idea of moving back in with us!"

In the time the family has been there, the house has been ideal. Five bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and multiple living areas mean it works for both family life and entertaining. It's also handy to all the amenities Omaha has to offer, as well as to the couple's business, Red Letter Day, a Matakana shop selling beautiful stationery.

Graham and Lindy have done little to the house in their time there, as much of the interior design was set in stone when they bought it. But they have added their own touches, one of which is a funky red and white chaise which, Lindy says, Graham bought for the dogs.

"I didn't want them on my red leather sofas, so he went off to a design store and bought that for them," she says. "They're Schnoodles, so luckily they don't shed."

She gives Graham credit for many of the creative touches around the house. "He's more into that than I am, because he's an artist," she explains. "My creativity is around cooking, and I love my kitchen with its butler's pantry."

They plan to stay in the area but exactly what they want, apart from enough space for a few hens, hasn't crystallised. They are in no hurry - there's another trip to Europe planned, and that may be when they decide what's happening next.