MATAKANA
65 SMITH RD
These days Matakana is a model country town, with gorgeous cafes, a movie theatre, farmers’ market and a slew of designer shops. Twenty years ago, not so much.
“We were Aucklanders relocating for the country schools, our kids were 7, 5 and 3,” says Michelle Adams of her and husband Roger’s plans back then. “My sister’s family were at Leigh schools, and we wanted to make the move, too. All our friends thought we were mad; at that time there was nothing in Matakana.”
It wasn’t just the Adams family who had moved from the city, their 1920s bungalow had also been shipped up from Point Chevalier, in two pieces.
Michelle admits that when they first saw the place, one January morning in 1997, it looked like it had “just landed from Mars, sitting up on piles without a tree on the site”.
Michelle, who does the books for Roger’s finance business from home, was determined to get stuck into the garden while they figured out what to do with the house.
The rookie gardener guesses she inherited her green fingers from her grandmother as, of the hundreds of trees and shrubs she planted, nothing died.
The boundary of the 1.299ha garden has a couple of paddocks for sheep; Michelle planted dozens of pohutukawa on one boundary, and an avenue of liquidambar, piling on the mulch to build up the clay soil.
Just as the Adams had hoped, their townie kids turned into country kids, with eldest son Josh going hunting with friends, and Sarah and Thomas loving the bush around their home.
Now grown, the kids are giving their parents grief about not keeping the country property, an easy 3km bike or walk from the village, for their children, but Granny and Poppa have got other things to do. The keen sailors are planning on a bolthole in the Bay of Islands and plenty of extended offshore trips on their yacht, so the country house is ready for the next family.
“I want someone who will love it as much as we do,” says Michelle. “It would suit a family of gardeners, or a semi-retired couple who could run the rental business.”
The business is a charming one-bedroom cottage with kitchenette the Adams built alongside a new barn in 2012. The couple lived in it while they did major renovations to the house, and then turned it over to guests.
Since then, Michelle has run a thriving bed and breakfast. Guests love the access to the village, the beaches around the area and Sandspit marina, and, best of all, the outdoor cedar bathtub made by a neighbour. Michelle says there is a real community of people running such businesses.
The main house was been improved over the years: 10 years ago a garage was renovated to include macrocarpa and plywood recycled windows, a cubby out the back of the property became a favourite bunkroom for visitors.
It was five years ago that Roger and Michelle finally made the major changes they’d dreamed of for the house. In went insulation, new bathrooms, new wall linings, upgraded flooring (the original matai was matched with modern engineered products) and decks, and out went the old kitchen.
The best bit was the addition of an outdoor room that has become the family’s favourite space, year round.
The architect’s idea for a covered porch grew to include shutters, a tongue-and-groove-lined ceiling, and wood joinery for the barbecue bench: the perfect solution to unpredictable summer weather. The remaining decks were upgraded so there is now a sunny spot for any time of day.
The kitchen is impressive, continuing the vintage look Michelle had started when she commissioned “new-old” cabinets for the bathrooms and guest cottage kitchenette, but with the modern sparkle of rich mosaic backsplash.
Elsewhere, Michelle has complemented traditional joinery with cool wallpaper, shutters or linen curtains, a traditional claw foot bathtub, and smart brass tapware.
The formal living room and family dining space still have the traditional proportions and beams of the 1920s.
“It will be a big wrench to leave, we love everything about the area,” says Michelle.
“But we don’t want to leave it too late to get started on our adventures.” Size: Land 1.299ha, house 155sq m, barn/ cottage 122sq m. Schools: Matakana School and College. Price guide: $1.2 million-plus. Auction: Sun April 30, 2.30pm on site. Inspect: Sun 2-2.30pm.
Contact: Nola and Ben Kloppers, Remax, 021 425 597 (Nola), 021 425 599 (Ben).
On the web: remax.net.nz/ L13402041
*Plus barn