KAWAU ISLAND
LOT 197 AND 198 SCHOOLHOUSE BAY
Grant and Keren Wallace used to sit on the deck of a Kawau bach they owned with friends and fantasise about owning this one just a few properties away.
“We didn’t have a wharf and there was this wonderful, big, established waterfront property with its own jetty and a boatshed and everything you could want,” Grant says.
Ten years ago, management consultant Grant and Keren were able to purchase this property to enjoy with children Eden (now 18) and Oscar (now 13).
It boasts a deep-water mooring, its own all-tide wharf with gear shed for their water-sports equipment, and a large boat shed with electric winch and cradle.
“It’s quintessentially Kawau, with lots of rustic charm and outbuildings, and a feeling that’s so different from Auckland,” he says.
The property was established as a dairy farm in the 1930s, so the waterfront brick-and-concrete house was built as a home rather than a bach.
Milk was transported using a cradle and trolley on a railway-type track from the former dairy beside the home, now used as a laundry. The track went to two tinlined sheds (which now store firewood), to keep the milk cool while waiting to be transported away by barge.
The Wallaces use an outbuilding at the start of the wharf, which also has a shower room and one of the property’s two workshops as a day room.
The hectare of land in two titles (which both have a share of around 100 metres of water frontage) rises to adjoin a Department of Conservation estate behind.
The Wallace children have grown up fishing off the end of the wharf and kayaking. Oscar mastered his climbing on a huge pohutukawa here, and maintains walkie-talkie contact when he heads off to explore.
It’s an easy boat ride when Keren and Eden feel like checking out the market or movies in Matakana.
The big glass balcony fronting the home looks out on any harbour activity including visiting orca or dolphins. Grant says it feels exceptionally private in the house, looking out with trees on either side and no near neighbours. He rates the end of their wharf as another great spot to enjoy sun-downer drinks.
The couple have fully renovated the home while wanting to keep its exterior — which has some lovely brickwork detailing — as original as possible.
They replaced all joinery for longevity’s sake and upgraded all water and electrical systems for easy living. Now a mains pressure system feeds off the property’s own bore.
They gutted and reinvented the interior, which now has polished matai floors throughout and an efficient fire insert in the lounge, fuelled by the property’s endless supply of firewood.
The two bedrooms are a good-sized master and an oversized second bedroom — they suspect was created by partially opening up two bedrooms — which fits a queen-sized bed and two king singles.
The renovated kitchen and bathroom and two toilets complete the layout.
Grant says: “We’ve got the property set up so within 30 to 40 minutes of walking in the door everything is functioning and we’re just enjoying ourselves.
“It’s only an hour door-to-door for us to get there from our North Shore home, either towing our Osprey tinny up to nip over in or catching a ferry or water taxi.
“Kawau is so special and yet it’s so close to Auckland.”
With their children growing up (Eden is off to university in Wellington next year) and the couple are travelling more, they’re not using this haven enough.
They’re selling it in its entirety but would also consider a proposition from buyers wishing to share the property or separate its two titles but jointly share the wharf and access. Size: Land 10,188sq m, house (approx) 120sq m. Price guide: Offers above the CV of $1.9 million. Inspect: By appointment. Closest schools: Matakana and Warkworth primaries, Mahurangi College. Contact: Dave Jeffery, LJHooker, 021 951 038. On the web: warkworth.ljhooker.co .nz/1UHAY