SCHOOL ZONES:
Warkworth Primary and Mahurangi College.
CONTACT:
Dianna Coman, Bayleys, 021 790 307.
AUCTION:
December 17.
One bridge, a tree-lined driveway and a house on a hill added up to a fine kind of lifestyle in Tom Coomber's book. It turned out he wasn't the only one who liked how those odds stacked up here, a mere five minutes north of Warkworth.
The man who livedhere previously also had the vision of a bridge, a picturesque driveway and a house when he bought this land. Then he went one better all round. He put in two bridges across the river that flows down from the Dome Valley, planted the swathe of soaring pine trees that somehow missed the cut for sale as Christmas trees and built the two houses up the hill at the end of the driveway with its poplar trees and daffodils.
It's a story that Liz Coomber still loves to share eight years on. Together with Liz's widowed mother Helen Bollons, they've adored life here as the keepers of this land and owners of the houses that were built in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Liz and Tom moved into the larger, first-built house in 2006 and this is the only home -- and bespoke tree house -- that their son Taylor (7) has ever known.
The Coomber's four-bedroom house is a grown-up version of the smaller three-bedroom house; from the profile of the exterior cladding and the curved bay windows in each lounge to the layout that has the bedrooms and bathrooms in a separate wing directly off the front-to-rear open plan living areas.
Helen and her late husband David originally came here in their weekends, staying in the smaller house. Then they just gave up bothering to go home. In 2007 they shifted here lock, stock and wheelbarrow, converting their garage at the driveway end of the house into an office/ third bedroom big enough to fit a Queen-sized bed.
There's also a utility room that accommodates the laundry, ceiling-high cupboards and lengthy bench space with bespoke storage by the back door -- perfect for the gumboots.
On the deck by the front door, Helen uses one of the two storage boxes for rubbish and recycling, and the other for her weekly barrow load of firewood that provides one week's worth of fuel in the winter -- most of which comes off the property.
Overlooking her house is the puriri tree where three generations of wood pigeons have added another familial coincidence.
Liz and Tom's house is past the adjoining double and single garages which they installed shortly after moving here. Identical insulated rooms at each end are the gymnasium and the workshop, in addition to the large 'depot' shed en route up the driveway.
Image 1 of 9: A weekend retreat with wonderful views slowly became a family home. Photos / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
It took her three years to find this property and when she and Tom pulled up and saw the rear, family-friendly deck -- and the views back down the valley -- they knew it would be perfect. It was Tom who built Taylor's play house and deck in the totara tree from which the distant views over the house extend to the hills beyond, where the new motorway extension will be built.
Closer to home, careful placement of the drainage has preserved ample space for an in ground pool with access down from their enclosed veranda.
Above all else, this family has relished the tranquillity of these homes that are well away from the signpost that announces its suburban-sounding street name on its intersection with SH1.
Needing to move closer to Tom's cafe management job in Matakana, they're about to move into Warkworth township and a home that is remarkably similar to the lifestyle vibe they've enjoyed here.
