Manurewa: Added value

184 Hill Road, Manurewa.

Lex Mills admits he "doesn't know one end of a hammer from the other", so never tried to subdivide the stretch of land beside his house.
And maybe it's just as well. Instead, he and wife Karen created a beautiful garden around the sweeping lawn, with an orchard at its base.

"We often thought about offering this area for weddings," says Karen, standing in the middle of a circle lawn at the head of the section. Low rock walls hold flower beds, including a variety of roses, which are in full bloom and sheltered by a mixture of established trees. "We never got around to it though - we were always too busy in the garden," she laughs.

A future owner could subdivide the land, but that might mean taking out the orchard bearing peaches, nectarines, grapefruit and mandarins. At the bottom of the section is a creek, which runs to the nearby Botanic Gardens.

"We used to get ducks coming up and jumping in the pool," says Karen.

She and Lex bought this property nine years ago, finding it perfect for their three school aged boys. As well as the expansive section, there was a pool, a big house with two living areas and a games room, and a loft above the double garage.

"It's been really easy living here with teenage and now adult children - the house helped us survive it," laughs Karen.

The house was built about 20 years ago and was well thought out. From the entrance you can head left to the games room, which also has a bar, straight ahead to the formal dining and living area, or around the corner to the kitchen, which leads to the informal dining and living. Off here is an office.

Upstairs are five generous bedrooms. The master overlooks the pool and has an en suite and dressing room; another bedroom also has an en suite, and the other three bedrooms share a bathroom. Heating under the floor and in the ceiling keeps the house warm in winter, and sliding doors in many walls downstairs allow the breeze to blow through in summer.

"After work it's a very restful place to come home to," says Lex, who runs a supermarket in Waiuku. Now that their youngest son has finished high school, they intend moving closer to Lex's job.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 5

BATHROOMS: 4

GARAGE: 2+

SIZE: Land 3750sq m, house 518sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest has been received in the mid to late $800,000s. Auction today, 2pm, on site.

INSPECT: Today 1pm.

CONTACT: Rodney Dunn, Professionals, ph 268 8954.

FEATURES: 20 year old family home with generous spaces set on an expansive section with flower gardens and fruit trees. Two living areas, games room, loft above double garage. Swimming pool and pool room. Subdivision potential.