Most people go from suburbia to a lifestyle block but the Wills family went the other way.
"To get our lifestyle back," says Stuart Wills.
Stuart, his wife Erica and children Mackenzie (13) and Harrison (14) bought this home at 20 Liquidambar Drive, Hobsonville Pt, Auckland, moving in once Jalcon Homes finished the build.
They were downsizing from 1ha at Kumeu to around 374sq m. They chose the harbourside suburb because they felt it was safe for their children. "There is a park with a playground across the road and we had no worries with the kids going there," says Stuart.
"Also, they could easily have mates around home after school easily. At Kumeu we had a huge lawn, but if Harrison wanted to play rugby with other kids we had to jump in the car and go and get them.
"Everything here is closer. Even though we don't have as much land ourselves, you have lots of community spaces. That is the concept of Hobsonville Pt."
Stuart and Erica used to drive from Kumeu to their office in Henderson; now they can walk to their Hobsonville office. With more leisure time, the family's activities have grown.
The two-storey weatherboard home has heat pumps on both levels and is painted blue and off-white with Colorsteel roofing. Outside, the liquidambars — which loan their name to the street — are in full autumn colour.
