Takapuna Beach - Holiday at home

A well-known Auckland family's property ties with Takapuna Beach have come to an end with the sale of an original cottage.

25 William Street, Takapuna Beach.

The sale of this little bach marks the end of the Winstone family's connection with Takapuna beach that stretches back nearly 100 years.

Keith Winstone, whose father Eric was involved in the family quarrying and construction products business, now lives in Gisborne, but recalls his father telling him how the bach was bought for family holidays in ``1900 and something''.

The section next door was later subdivided and a grand stucco home built in which Keith grew up. He says the bach was sold to William Bond in about 1912, but returned to the family when his aunt Hilda bought it from Bond in the 1950s.

``She was living in England at the time but thought of Takapuna beach as her home, and wanted to have somewhere she might return to one day,'' says Keith.

However, she and her husband settled in Australia and Hilda never got to live in her cottage. When she came to Auckland for visits she didn't want to inconvenience her tenants, so stayed elsewhere with family. Eric managed the property for her until the 1970s, when Keith took over. Hilda died in Australia in January, aged 96.

The house could do with renovation, but Keith has done a good job of maintaining it for rental. As you enter from the street you pass an office on the left and a bathroom on the right.

The kitchen is still a separate room. Next door is a central lounge with an open fire. Two bedrooms and a sunroom open off the lounge.

The sunroom and one bedroom share the glorious view straight down the grassy slope in front of the cottage, to the sand, sea and Rangitoto, framed by pohutukawa.

Beachgoers, water activity and the moods of the weather provide an ever-changing vista, yet the cottage is set far enough back on the land to retain a sense of privacy.

A sweet touch are his and hers changing sheds still at the sand's edge, which could be restored.

Simple as the cottage is, it includes some lovely character features such as matai floorboards, leadlight windows in the front rooms, and early 20th century French doors that separate the lounge from the sunroom.

``It's a lovely little cottage and it's nice to think someone might do it up, but we're resigned to the likelihood of it being moved off and something new built on the land,'' says Keith.

Hilda never had any children of her own, but played a big part in the lives of her nieces and nephews.

``We would take a photo of all the extended family at Takapuna every summer and send it over to her,'' recalls Keith. ``She kept this place all those years just in case she was ever able to come back. Selling it is the end of an era.''

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 2

BATHROOMS: 1

GARAGES: 2

SIZE: Land 1118sq m, cottage 100sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Upwards of the 2005 CV of $4.4 million. Tender closes November 16.

INSPECT: By appointment.

ON THE WEB: www.bayleys.co.nz # 450947

CONTACT: Victoria Bidwell, Bayleys, ph 021 947 080, 489 0975 bus.

FEATURES: Early 1900s cottage right on Takapuna Beach, with uninterrupted views of the beach and sea out to Rangitoto. Open fire in lounge, separate sunroom, separate study. Cottage could be renovated or moved off and a new home built. His and hers changing sheds at the sand's edge could also be restored.