Whitford: A family resort

Water, water everywhere ... and five-star luxury at this Whitford home.

26 Tudor Park Drive, Whitford. When Linda and Murray Hunt moved to Auckland in 1998 and bought bare land in Whitford, the brief was to build a resort-style home.

A year later they had exactly what they wanted. With two pools, six bedrooms and a huge home theatre, the couple had created the luxurious ambience of a five-star getaway plus much more.

With three boys, Linda and Murray wanted a house that was family-friendly, incorporated their love of water and had elements of resort lodges they'd visited in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

"The water theme starts at the top of property with the pond, dam and stream, and then leads down past the deep water bore to the house - with its water features and an indoor pool - to the outdoor pool, waterfall, spa and then on to the reflecting pool and down to the waterfront," explains Murray.

"Wherever you are in the house, you can hear water," adds Linda.

The U-shaped house has a wing for the parents, and opposite, with the large outdoor pool between them, a wing for sons Stefan, 18, Hamish, 16, and 12-year-old Alistair. Between the two wings are the formal dining room, huge kitchen and family lounge.

The driveway loops around to the double-door entrance. Once inside, you're immediately impressed with the influence of water. In the two-storey atrium foyer is a Central Otago schist waterfall on the left that flows under the floor to a reflection pond on the right. With glass from floor to ceiling, the pond sits both in the atrium and outside in the courtyard, and overlooks the outdoor pool.

The entrance isn't just for greeting visitors, it's for entertaining, too. The Hunts have had 22 guests around a table set up in the foyer, with lights of the three water features glittering and a singer entertaining from the balcony above.

To the right of the atrium is the adults' wing featuring the formal lounge-library; the master bedroom with bifolds opening to the courtyard and pool; a walk-in wardrobe; and an en suite with the special touch of a double shower that overlooks an enclosed Japanese garden.

The atrium leads off to the formal dinning room and an extra-wide hallway created specifically to display art work. Off the large corridor are a guests' bathroom, a guest suite with private en suite, the family-friendly laundry and a room the Hunts jokingly refer to it as "the mud room" - another bathroom by the backdoor so the boys can clean up after being on the farm.

The 1.8ha include two paddocks, 250 olive trees, native bush, extensive lawns, a raised vege garden, a small dam and pond, and a petanque area.

Murray and Linda's favourite place in the house is the kitchen. Forget about entertainer's kitchen, try restaurant-sized workplace. The gas oven is industrial size and there are two dishwashers, an electric oven and a commercial-size stainless-steel double fridge. Tucked behind the fridge is the walk-through pantry that includes a computer alcove.

Also in the kitchen is the nerve centre of the fully automated home - a touch-control screen that monitors extensive security, the electric gates, all the pool and water features, heating and air conditioning, irrigation, sound from the 40-odd speakers plus all the lighting in the home. Despite the home being electronically controlled, there is also a back-up generator in case of a power cut.

The kitchen flows to the family lounge that has a floor-to-ceiling schist fireplace and a balcony with superb views over the Maungamaungaroa estuary to the lights of Cockle Bay.

The kitchen-lounge area leads to the boys wing with three double bedrooms and a separate bath, shower and toilet. But it's the space underneath this wing that transforms the estate from a luxurious home to a resort. Stairs down from the family lounge lead to the 22.5m indoor heated lap pool. Included in the pool area is an alarmed, two-room wine cellar.

The home theatre sits above the kitchen. The room incorporates a 2.7m rear projection cinema screen complete with 12-speaker Dolby Digital sound, and a dumb waiter leads straight up from the kitchen. "I didn't want the boys traipsing up the stairs with drinks and I didn't want a fridge in the room, so we installed the dumb waiter," says Linda.

The third-floor area also contains a separate toilet and bathroom with a shower, plus a large office that leads to a balcony, and up four steps to the loft bedroom.

With such a stunning resort-style home it's amazing the Hunts want to sell, but the family originally planned to move closer to the city. "Once we started looking around we thought we may actually like to move further out into the country," laughs Linda.

The couple runs internet businesses - Murray owns electronics importing firm AVW and Linda sells European homewares through her Pier5 website - so the family can be based anywhere.

If the Hunts decide to build again, they are sure to create another resort - with an indoor pool compulsory.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: 1.8ha of land, house 615sq m including 424m living area, 81m garage and 110m pool.

PRICE: $3.6 million.

INSPECT: By appointment.

CONTACT: Leon Mountford, Bayleys, ph 021 980 767 or 09 535 5480.

FEATURES: Two pools (one indoor lap pool, one outdoor, including waterfall), spa pool, air-conditioned home theatre with rear projection screen and dumb waiter, home office, two lounges, two-room wine cellar, water features, home with touch-screen computer control and extensive security.