Secluded city setting, family-size home
Saturday, February Moving into suburbia from a lifestyle block was a painless process for Graeme and Lynne five years ago.
They found this property at 226d Heta Rd in New Plymouth that gave them a beautifully private, sheltered setting on the edge of a bush-filled reserve.
‘‘We’d been looking for a long time; 18 months to two years,’’ Graeme recalls. Having lived in the country for some years, the couple had reservations about moving to an urban setting with neighbours a couple of metres away over a boundary fence.
No such problems here.
This right-of-way property is on the newer area of Heta Rd, just up from its intersection with Cumberland St. The drive rises from the road and then dips into a valley where the Miritatana Reserve provides a lush green boundary and outlook.
There are other homes off the right-of-way but their placement and established plantings mean they are not obvious and privacy is emphasised.
The quiet environment was a major attraction, Graeme says. ‘‘There’s no traffic noise; it’s like being in the country.’’
As we talk, there’s just the sound of cicadas singing. With all that bush adjacent, bird life is prolific and visits from tui and kereru add to the ambience.
The Heta Rd discovery was timely, Lynne says. ‘‘We came to an open home (on the weekend) and on the Tuesday we received an offer for our own place. It was the quickest decision we’ve ever made. It delivered us a private, magic place.’’
Within a couple of weeks, the purchase was confirmed, and Graeme and Lynne have enjoyed every moment here since. Prospective buyers checking this property out will quickly realise why.
Anticipation builds on a first visit. The driveway keeps you guessing until you reach the final curve down to the concrete parking area in front of the integrated double garage.
Anticipation continues, with a landscaped boardwalk down the side of the house to the front door.
It’s a beautiful welcome with a watery theme. A tiled waterfall feature against the timber retaining wall opposite the door fills a shallow pond that the boardwalk crosses to access the front door.
Riverstones layer the bottom of the pool and form the two pillars that rise either side of the timber front door. The impressive entrance is a foretaste of the similarly fine crafted detail inside that was specified by its original owners.
Graeme explains that this home 226d Heta Rd, New Plymouth.
A finely detailed and presented five-bedroom family home on the edge of a lush bush reserve. This secluded setting is peaceful and sheltered, seemingly far from the urban conveniences that are just past the end of the driveway.
Michelle Gyde at Bayleys – 06 759 0415 or 027 444 1451.
441379. open2view.com – ref By appointment. was a dream home for those owners and it was only a job transfer out of Taranaki that took them away from it.
The front door opens into a lightfilled foyer space that links the living areas to the right and the bedroom wing to the left. Floor-to-ceiling glass on the inside wall looks into a garden recess between the wings with a teaser view of the reserve outlook beyond.
The hallway to the left is a lovely light space with its two skylight features. It leads to the home’s five bedrooms, with a second living area along there adding to family convenience. That living area, the master suite, and two of the guest bedrooms all open through sliding doors to the sheltered, private rear grounds.
The family bathroom, a separate shower room, and the master bedroom ensuite are fully tiled, with a striking mosaic-like feature strip of pebbles across the floor and up one wall. The ensuite has a solid timber vanity with twin porcelain bowls. It all emphasises that attention to detail again.
There’s family-sized storage in two large, three-door hallway cupboards.
From the foyer, the living areas open up into a spacious entertainer’s environment that is instantly appealing: a wealth of glass in windows and sliding doors lets in loads of light and the view of the lush grounds, and the extra stud height adds to the sense of space.
River stones make an eyecatching statement again, stacked to the ceiling in the central double-sided fireplace and forming the pillars that fill the back corners of the lounge area. There are more stones outside in the pillars that support the extended roof over a patio space.
They really are impressive, and the words of Van Morrison’s iconic 1970 song come to mind: ‘‘And it stoned me to my soul’’. Every element here works to create peaceful, inspirational surroundings.
The kitchen is another statement, with dark cabinets, island bench with white stone top and waterfall ends, and a pantry behind a glazed sliding door. A side bench adds extra space and sits below a sliding window that acts as a servery for an alfresco gathering.
Dining embraces the view out tall sliding doors to the landscaped, retained side boundary; in the lounge, three walls of glass celebrate the scope of the garden.
Palms create a semitropical feel, helped by the wealth of sun pouring into this property.
A corner courtyard outside the lounge features built-in seating and an outdoor fireplace, the latter offering a cosy atmosphere on a cooler evening.
Just around the other side of the house, the grounds open up to lawns, a patio area, pavings slabs framed in black mondo grass, and beautifully planted gardens that soften the boundary with the neighbouring reserve. ‘‘It’s nice sitting out here in the evening,’’ says Lynne.
Any number of shades of green can be seen out in the reserve, but rata trees add splashes of red in season.
Graeme says that reserve allows an easy, green-framed stroll down to the letterbox at the street rather than the longer walk up and down the driveway. From there, there’s access across the street to the Te Henui Walkway and a further walk or bike ride down to the sea at East End, a round trip of about 6km that takes about an hour, according to Lynne ‘‘. . . depending on a coffee stop.’’
A shorter walk option takes you up the Miritatana Reserve to Karina Rd or Frank Frethey Place.
A small terraced garden area behind the outdoor fire is a fertile spot for growing vegetables. Fruit trees are also growing here and below the lawn area, including plum, avocado, apple and pear varieties, as well as a young macadamia tree.
Bayleys consultant Michelle Gyde is marketing the property which she says ‘‘will make you smile right from the moment you walk to the front door; it is that special, a world away from the pressures of every day life.’’
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