MATHESON BAY
227 LEIGH RD
Lloyd Thomas figured out an easy way to find the perfect property when he was looking for land back in the 80s: he put an ad in the local paper. It’s probably not a common approach to buying real estate in this day and age, but it worked perfectly back then and Lloyd’s ad turned up three suitable properties, with this one standing head and shoulders above the others.
“They didn’t tell me it had a view,” he says, describing his surprise when he jumped the fence and walked across the land to discover an outstanding outlook to Little Barrier Island and the Coromandel. “I said to myself, ‘Hell, I’ve got to get this one!’ ” The land was the perfect size at just over 4ha. Lloyd had advertised for what was the ubiquitous 10-acre block not for any particular reason but because, he says, “That’s what everybody wanted back then.”
He built himself a three-bay shed to start with and lived there for three years. The main house, a solid, spacious weatherboard bungalow, followed and he moved there in 1985. Ask him if that was an exciting day and he’ll tell you with a chuckle that he was pretty happy in the shed.
Lloyd had a builder friend draw up the plans for the house. He jokes that the item at the top of the wish list was that he should be able to afford it, followed by access to the views, well-proportioned rooms, a good layout, lots of character and plenty of space.
He got what he asked for, although “plenty of space” proved not quite enough when he started a family, and an 80sq m extension was required in 1997.
It’s turned the split-level house into a big family home on three levels to take the best advantage of the views. Upstairs are the kitchen, lounge, dining room and office, plus the master bedroom and en suite. The north-easterly aspect means the rooms are light and sunny.
The middle level has one double and two single bedrooms, a bathroom with a spa bath and a separate toilet, while downstairs has a rumpus room, craft room, laundry and internal two-car garage. A double burner firebox and wetback warm the house in the cooler months and there’s solar hot water.
Outside, a big in-ground pool was added and Lloyd’s wife Aileen gave swimming lessons there. Over time upwards of 200 children came to learn to swim and special facilities for them included boys’ and girls’ changing sheds and a mural of the coast at one end of the pool enclosure.
Landscaping and planting has been kept simple for low maintenance, with a big deck area for outdoor living, a productive orchard and a sheep paddock. Currently the property supports about 40 sheep. Water for stock and garden is never a problem, thanks to a deep bore and more than125,000 litres of tank storage from Lloyd’s former water business.
There’s plenty of parking and several outbuildings for storage, as well as that three-bay shed.
Lloyd is “limping around a bit” these days as the result of a back injury, which convinced him that downsizing was in order.
He subdivided a piece of land off the main block of property and built a smaller house. The move has allowed he and Aileen to stay in the area, eight minutes from Matakana and handy to the village of Leigh.