SCHOOL ZONES:
Sancta Maria College, Star of the Sea
School, Howick College.
CONTACT:
Geoff Bignall, ph 0274 976 507
If Digby and Bev Sykes had not been so sold on boating they may not have ended up buying what is arguably one of the best seafront properties in Beachlands. The couple were living in Rotorua, where Digby owned a food business, when they started heading further north than Taurangafor their beloved boating trips.
By the early 1990s they had decided to moor their boat in Auckland at Pine Harbour as they were spending so much of their leisure time sailing on the Hauraki Gulf.
"We thought, 'Why don't we move up here'," says Digby.
After hunting all over Beachlands for the perfect property, they found this expansive clifftop site at the end of Pohutukawa Rd, a no exit street with some of the most coveted views in this seaside suburb about 45 minutes' drive south-east of Auckland.
The property's owners lived in a small weatherboard house on the 2757sq m site, which was smothered in scrappy trees, bamboo, gorse and other weeds that obscured a great deal of the view. Digby and Bev could see the property's potential and, after convincing the owners to sell, they built a home on the site in 1997.
"We did not want to split the section and decided to build a house large enough to do justice to its size rather than putting up a small pre-built," says Digby.
The couple worked with an architect on a plan for a two-level home with three bedrooms, a large lounge, three-car garaging and which maximised the views. These take in Howick, Flat Rock and Musick Point as well as Browns Island, Rangitoto, Motuihe, Rakino and Waiheke.
After soil erosion led to the loss of two pohutukawa down the cliff, Digby invested in building a 9m-deep palisade wall across the front of the property to prevent any further erosion.
The home, constructed with timber framing and plastered walls with fibrolite backing, aluminium joinery and a cedar shingle roof, features robust stucco support columns, which give it a neo-Grecian feel.
The house is approached from a long, immaculately landscaped driveway that has a generous turning circle in front of the three-car garage and main entrance.
The main foyer on the ground level sits behind the main living spaces that run from east to west.
The large open-plan kitchen includes high quality marble benchtops, two walk-in pantries and an informal dining area that catches the morning sun.
Next to these is the formal dining room, which flows through to the capacious main lounge then to the library, which doubles as the TV room.
The western wing includes two bedrooms, one with an en suite. Also on this level are a large laundry with convenient outdoor access to the clothesline, two separate toilets, and the carpeted garage with a large, head-height loft that is reached via a pull-down ladder.
This space, currently one of the many storage areas in the house, could easily be converted into a fourth bedroom or a rumpus room.
Stairs from the marble floored entrance foyer sweep up to a large landing on the second level. To the east is a large second lounge with double doors opening to an office.
To the west is the master bedroom with its own dressing room and en suite.
