Takapuna: Taste of paradise

By VICKI HOLDER.

Although right on the beach, the property is sheltered and private. Gates at the end of the garden open directly on to Takapuna beach. Designed by Frans Kammermans, the big, solid masonry house offers no secrets at the entry. The living areas start at the top and cascade down through the bedroom levels to the pool pavilion.

Thorne Bay is a popular waterfront venue. Premium Real Estate's Jim Mays reports sales of over $4 million and $5 million, as well as the pre-sale of four new homes in the Manson development at 245 Hurstmere for prices between $2.75 million and $3 million.

Premium's CEO Brian Guy says in 1995 the company's records show it sold 20 million-dollar homes, with the highest price paid standing at $4 million. This number has risen to 150 in the past year.

The past decade has seen huge growth in the Takapuna area, with many properties achieving prices well beyond expectations. A cottage on a prime beachfront site of 960sq m sold two years ago for $3.8 million after the adjoining site sold a year earlier for $2.8 million. An 807sq m site with an old cottage on Cheltenham Beach, a little further north, astonished everyone by selling for the record price of $3.5 million in April 2002.

Several years ago, a New Zealand family paid what seemed an incredible amount for a sizable portion of hidden waterfront land at the end of Minnehaha Ave, one of Takapuna's top streets. Stretching on a small promontory between the rocks at the water's edge right up the cliff, the site has the solitary sense of being on an island in the middle of the ocean. Look out and there's just water, water everywhere, with the cone-shaped icon, Rangitoto Island, perfectly framed on the horizon.

As the family leads a hectic life - he owns a computer software company - it's a setting you'd imagine would make all the worries of the day, week, year, no matter how big, seem trivial.

Having secured a magical property, the family endured a lengthy wait of three years while they built a resort-like sanctuary to call home. Before they started, planning issues took forever to be resolved and enormous retaining and levelling was required as the engineers carved the landscape out of solid rock. But the house is not just bricks and mortar, more an experience - and one worth waiting for.

Architect Frans Kammermans designed it to totally indulge the family's quest for privacy, comfort and relaxation. He gave them magnificent spaces that terrace down several levels to the pool and a self-contained pavilion with its own kitchen that opens to a generous level garden, which in turn spills through gates to the sandy white beach.

Built of solid masonry, the house has a copper roof, which was moulded on site and attached without nails or screws. Inside, pale European beech - used for the window joinery, cabinetry and all floors - delivers understated Scandinavian flavours to give a soothing serenity. Though luxurious, it has the unpretentious, laid-back atmosphere of a simple beach house.

It's in tune with the harmony of nature, yet it disguises a sophisticated array of electronically controlled systems.

The owners can control every last detail of their environment at just the tap of a touch pad. These tiny, user-friendly electronic panels are discreetly positioned in every room, allowing you to fine-tune the lighting or underfloor heating, check security systems, open doors or gates and let visitors enter, alter the music and even pull back the cover on the swimming pool.

Half the time, the house does it all for you. Sensors come on automatically, lighting your way at night, as you head down the drive or the stairs inside.

There are spaces for every rhyme and reason. Most are generous with large windows framing beach and Rangitoto views. Located at the entry, the semi-circular library is one of the few that doesn't look out. Books are stacked in tall European beech shelves lining the walls, almost to the ceiling where light shines through small square windows.

On a lower level, beside the gym, the home theatres cut you off from the outside world with heavy soundproofing buffers around the walls. Downstairs, a handyperson's dream - a decent-sized workshop nestles beside four-car garaging with a carousel, a wine cellar and the room-sized operations centre.

It's difficult to understand how work gets done in the office perched high above the living area - the harbour views must cause a major distraction. Timber louvres look down into the living area, so the person working here can feel connected with the family or guests downstairs.

Two large living areas on either side of a European beech kitchen open through bifolds to a sunny terrace enfolded by greenery. Beech panelling behind the gas fire in the more formal of these rooms hides the wide screen TV. Apart from appliances in the kitchen and the odd light fitting, there's no technology on show to distract from the calm surrounds. A sound system worth over $500,000 is hidden in the ceilings and walls.

The family bedrooms are on the same level as a huge laundry with beautiful beech cupboards. The children have their own mosaic bathroom with beech cabinetry, while the parents have one even bigger and more luxurious. Guests don't go without either. A full suite below - complete with kitchenette for total independence - opens to the pool.

Although this international sanctuary in its incredible location has just been completed, the owners have been transferred, leaving an opportunity for someone else to experience the smooth taste of paradise.

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: 25 Minnehaha Ave, Takapuna.

FEATURES: Substantial new masonry home on beachfront; smart-wired with automated digital wiring system for lights, phones, sound system, heating and security; four bedrooms; three bathrooms; four-car garaging with turning carousel; workshop and storage; home theatre; gym; two living areas; library; office; heated pool; self-contained pool house.

SIZE: Floor area 540sq m; land area 1300sq m.

PRICE INDICATOR: Registered valuation around $8 million.

AGENT: Jim Mays, Premium Real Estate. Ph 916 4382 bus; 021 937 766 mob.