COAST AND COUNTRY
118 UPPER OREWA RD, WAINUI
Sixteen years ago Scott Lester notched up the week of all milestones. Three days after his youngest son Daniel was born, he moved his family into the “new” house on this hill and acquired himself a view, all in that order.
He knew there was a view from the top of these hills but such was the tangle of trees and shrubs that scratched the windows around the old fibrolite cottage they’d bought that they couldn’t see any from inside.
As Scott’s friends began shifting furniture in through the rickety front door, Scott stopped them short. “I just turned around and went ‘No! Here’s my chainsaw. Get me a view!” An hour or two of strategic tree-felling cleared the air and revealed a new perspective.
“All of sudden we had a peek through the bush. You could just see the sea,” he says.
Scott got what he was looking for, and what he has enjoyed looking out across every day since October 2000 when he and his wife Jacqueline and their boys Ben (now 17) and Daniel (15) moved in.
Almost everything else around here has changed dramatically since then, including their rebuilt home and those elevated views — the outlook east to Orewa, Whangaparaoa and the Coromandel are just part of the picture. Looking north, a sweep of the eye takes in the rolling farmland that is home to Jacqueline’s three horses, which she transports to local arenas, and the family’s two cows. There are pine trees near and far on neighbouring properties and a smattering of houses dotted down and around the valleys.
Their prime views are from the big deck overlooking the pool, which steps down off the living area and master bedroom in their rebuilt new home.
This weatherboard triple-gabled home is essentially an extension of the original L-shaped model but with stylish modern-yet-traditional lines. The Queenslanderstyle verandas on all four sides are a nod to Scott’s Australian heritage. The traditional feel of the house reminds Jacqueline of her English heritage. They wanted new, but definitely not wacky contemporary that would date quickly. “We wanted this house to stay looking as it does now,” says Scott.
The house was redesigned by architectural draughtsman Mark Dowling who came up with the twin veranda pillars, a feature he has repeated in the covered breezeway down to the pool and in the pool fencing.
Aesthetic details aside, the layout here has made for effortless living. “If you’re in the bedroom and you want something from the kitchen then you can just go around the deck rather than through the house,” says Jacqueline. Practical choices include the terracotta tiles in the kitchen/dining area alongside the carpeted living area. The bedrooms are located off the hallway along the western side of the house. There is no bedroom wing as such but Jacqueline was always more easily able to supervise her youngsters here than her friends living in homes with distant children’s bedroom wings were able to do.
Scott and Jacqueline paid their dues living on site during the rebuild. Their reward is in her farmhouse kitchen with its double butlers sinks, their lounge with Address: 118 Upper Orewa Rd, Wainui Size: Land 3.89ha, house (approx), 180sq m. Price Guide: RV is $1 million. Inspect: Sun 2pm to 2:45pm, or by appointment. Tender: Closes Sept 15. Schools: Silverdale Primary, Orewa College. Contact: Calvin Howarth, Harcourts, 021 0278 0341. On the web: http:/ /feature.harcourts.co.nz/118upperorewa * Plus off street parking. its wood-burning fireplace and in Scott’s favourite window seat by the dining area.
A dedicated study keeps paperwork out of sight and the laundry behind closed doors in the near-finished master en suite completes the list of must-have family features.
With the boys fast growing up, Scott and Jacqueline are keen to undertake another project but they admit they’re finding it hard to leave.
“There really is a lot of us in this house because we created it for us,” says Jacqueline.