FEATURES:
Beautifully renovated re-sited bungalow with four large bedrooms, two bathrooms, huge living area with entertainers' kitchen and butler's pantry. Heat pumps in every room. Gently contoured grounds, bounded by woodland stream with in-ground heated saltwater pool.
In the quiet valleys behind Silverdale, actress Kat Browne's roots go deep. "My ancestors first came to this area in 1863 and, with there being 60 descendants in my mother's generation alone, there are not many people round here I'm not related to. You could say turn a stone andthere'll be a cousin."
Moving into this elegantly restored bungalow may have seemed like coming home for Kat, but for her husband, Mike Cruickshank, it was more the change from their previous Ponsonby neighbourhood that struck him. "Having young children like we do it was great to feel part of a larger family. It's a bit like that old adage; 'It takes a village ...', and we certainly feel very much part of the community here."
With both of them being so busy combining careers and family life, the fact that the house needed nothing done to it was a real bonus. Most of the living takes place in the airy combined kitchen, dining and living room that spans the whole width of the house. Its generous proportions provide separate living areas at either end, with plenty of room for a large entertainers' kitchen and a spacious dining area in the centre. Kat loves the way the room accommodates the different seasons. "In winter I curl up in front of the fire down that end with my girlfriends but in the summer, this end - where you can look out on to the pool - is where we seem to spend all our time."
Despite having two boisterous boys and a newborn in the house, this well-used area is pristine. "Ah ha," laughs Kat. "There're a couple of reasons for that. We've turned the fourth bedroom into a playroom for Lachie and Cooper, and having a separate space for them to spread out and play is a bit like having the butler's pantry. That's the second reason. All the mess stays out of sight. When we have friends round I just sweep everything in there and then no one feels they have to help wash up. Same as with the boys' mess ... out of sight, out of mind."
Both the boys' bedrooms and the playroom/bedroom have a real bungalow feel with high ceilings and original doors and windows. Cooper's is a good size, but Lachie's is larger, with a curious little porch off to one side. "He loves this," says Kat. "He spends hours playing out here. I think it feels a bit like a boat."
The master bedroom, with its luxurious en suite, is where Kat has spent a lot of time recently, especially with third son, Monty, just 4 weeks old. "He's not sleeping through the night yet so I tend to grab sleep when I can.
"I just lie here and dreamily look out into the garden and listen to the cicadas.
"It's the most serene room you can imagine." Outside is the only place Kat and Mike felt the need to spend money when they moved in. With a creek bordering their property, Kat knew they wouldn't feel happy without it being fenced. "Now we know they [the boys] can run wild and yet they can't come to harm. Letting off steam outside is probably why it stays comparatively tidy in here."
With the recent addition of Monty, Kat and Mike have decided to move nearer to a beach. "Both Lachie and Cooper are real little water babies and probably Monty won't be any different. We have always planned to end up by the sea and we've just decided to bring that stage forward a bit."
