Dream run continues
Builder Dave Nasmith has built wife Cathy a few dream homes now. The latest one is this roomy four-bedroom house constructed of Hinuera stone that sits in the middle of a deer farm and has views across Kaipara Harbour.
While Dave reckons Cathy doesn’t always want to leave, he loves the building process and gets a bit twitchy after a while.
But Cathy enjoys the interior design part of the process and by having Dave as the builder they both get the features they want, and know intimately what has gone into the house.
He reckons with this house Cathy put him to work and there are many lovely features, from the double fireplace and sloping ceilings to the large wardrobes and storage, to the separate vanity room in one of the bathrooms.
There’s also a large butler’s pantry so you can make a mess in there and close the door when visitors arrive.
The double sided fireplace connects the dining and the kitchen and is the hub of the house, Dave says.
The couple also made sure to have plenty of outdoor living areas. At the front of the house the roof extends over a big deck where it is sheltered no matter which way the wind is blowing, and at the back there is another deck that is great for barbecues.
The couple bought this 8.09ha as part of an existing deer farm and they lease the land back to the farmer next door.
“So you’re living the dream in the middle of a deer farm basically without having to spend your whole weekend doing farm stuff,” says Dave.
“It’s a really nice piece of land. You look over flat to rolling hills and you look over a big part of the harbour. It also looks back to Helensville so at night, even though you’re living rurally, you’ve still got lights in the distance.”
Dave bought his family to the Kaipara around 30 years ago and has never looked back. It’s a beautiful part of the world, he says, yet still close to Auckland.
“You’re just out of the big city but it’s still there if you want it. It’s one of Auckland’s biggest recreational areas; it’s got lakes, horse riding, motorbikes, the harbour.”
And unlike nearby Kumeu, Huapai and Whenuapai, which are growing fast, the Kaipara is relatively
unspoiled and doesn’t have the big subdivisions that are popping up in those other areas.
Before they built on their block around two years ago, they planted a lot of trees, including an orchard that has a variety of fruit trees and some subtropicals.
You don’t get much in the way of frosts here, Dave says, and because the soil is sandy after a night of heavy rain the water is all gone in the morning.
The Hinuera stone is from near Matamata and you can see faint saw lines on the large blocks, which gives it a rustic but elegant feel, Dave says.
They chose the stone because it’s low maintenance and because they also wanted something a bit different from housing companies, which, he says, tend to use smaller bricks.
The house is timeless, he says, and a little bit different to what you might buy as a package.
And it’s a good feeling building a house from scratch and getting things right from the start — it brings peace of mind knowing it has been built to high standards.
While the couple is ready for their next challenge, they’re only going about 100 metres — Dave also bought the block next door and plans to build Cathy another dream home.