KareKare: Western

Wide-angle western 

134 Lone Kauri Rd, Karekare. 

A film-maker who felt a connection to a West Coast beach has remodelled the home he found there. 

Film-maker Steve Walls searched high and low for a West Coast retreat when he returned to New Zealand, looking at more than 20 houses before he came across the right place at Karekare. 

"I'd just spent seven years in London and I was totally over the city environment," Steve says. "When I came back the only place I wanted to live was out here. I looked at places at Bethells and Piha as well, but when I came out here I just felt a connection." 

So eight years ago he bought what was then a basic Lockwood home. He didn't do a lot to it initially, but about four years ago decided to re-fit the whole house. 

"I stepped out of advertising when I decided I wanted to make films, and when I did that I decided to make this place more liveable." 

The exterior of the house has been reclad and the interior has been gibbed. A hard pine floor was laid and stained, the house made more open plan and all the joinery was upgraded. 

More doors were put in to embrace the views and access the deck, which has been extended. A new kitchen with stainless steel benches went in and the bathroom was overhauled. Steve, a music lover, also put speakers throughout the house, including one in the tiled shower box. 

The house sits in the top corner of a section that is "50/50 pasture and bush" and slopes down into a bushy gully. From the deck, which is shaded at one end by trees, there are wide views across the bushclad valley and down to Karekare beach. 

Down in the gully there is a track that leads to the beach. It goes past a waterfall and links with the La Trobe track. 

"Orienteerers use it all the time - they've got their little markers along the trail." 

Steve is leaving this all behind to pursue another dream - making films in the United States. 

In July he's planning to follow and film New Zealand band Tommy and the Savages on a six-month odyssey from Los Angeles to New York. As it tours, the band hopes to hook up with their alt.country heroes such as Lambchop and Bonnie Prince Billie for whom they have written songs. Following that, Steve and his partner, who is a film producer, plan to stay in the US. 

"It's a step that we want to take because it's the evolution of what we're doing," says Steve. "We'll probably set up in LA because we've got a support network and family there. 

"I'll be sorry to say goodbye to this place. It is an amazing, special place. But sometimes the energy it takes to hold on to something can get you stuck and you just need to let go. It's time to hand it on to someone else." 


Vital Statistics: 

BEDROOMS: 2 

BATHROOMS: 1 

GARAGE: 2 

SIZE: Land 5.7845ha, house 120sq m. 

PRICE INDICATION: Upwards of the 2004 CV of $500,000. Auction April 12. 

INSPECT: Sun 1.30-2.30pm. 

CONTACT: Mark Owers or Lisa Adlington, Bayleys Titirangi, ph 817 0101 bus, 0274 791 385 (Mark), 0275 878 227 (Lisa). 

FEATURES: Stylishly updated Lockwood home with open plan living and decks that enjoy views down to Karekare beach. Spa pool on the deck and speakers throughout the house.