Tikorangi lifestyle has long view to sea
Awide sea horizon is an unexpected bonus when looking north for the first time from the living areas at 851 Otaraoa Rd, Tikorangi.
It shouldn’t have been too surprising, though. Otaraoa Rd rises steadily inland from its coastal beginnings along SH 3; and with elevation, you usually get an outlook. The blue expanse is a pleasing complement to the lush green of the rural landscape as it falls away towards the coast.
This setting has been home to the Mahy family for about a century, and Sue and her late husband Bob have spent more than half that century here in the original farm house, which they later extended and renovated.
“On a clear day, you can see right around the (Taranaki) Bight, up to Albatross Point, just this side of Raglan,” Sue says.
For much of their time here, the original farm property was focused on cows, cattle, sheep, and a couple of horses - the latter a nice inclusion for the kids, Sue recalls. “But I miss the sheep.”
In later years, the house and 1.536 hectares was subdivided off as a lifestyle property for Sue and Bob to enjoy retirement, and they grazed a few steers for Bob to keep his hand in.
Tikorangi is a popular district in which to enjoy a lifestyle property, Sue says. “It’s only a 10-minute drive to the beach at Onaero, and 10 or 15 minutes to Waitara. We used to go floundering at Urenui when the kids were small.”
New Plymouth is also conveniently close, she says, usually less than half an hour away. And with the development of shopping at The Valley and Bell Block, people don’t always need to go into the city.
There’s a school bus that comes along Otaraoa Rd, stopping at the gate, and Tikorangi has a community hall, church, school and sports club to cater to local residents.
The grounds around the house at 851 Otaraoa Rd have changed much since Sue and Bob settled in here ... thanks to their efforts with landscaping and planting.
Sue enjoyed gardening and the original pasture close to the house gave way to her growing interest. “I just kept pushing it out,” she explains, with a smile.
There were few trees around the house at first, but Sue planted more and more to eventually frame the house in a tall border of greenery. Most notable is the spreading oak to the west of the house - a tree that surprised Sue, who came out to New Zealand from London, with the speed it grew. She says the 50-year-old oak is now as large as it would be in England after a century of growth.
The oak provides a quiet, cool space beneath its branches for a mix of plants that handle shade, from salvia and clivia to hydrangea. A lawn on the other side bakes in the sun, with a border of more established trees beyond.
The couple created a convenient drive-through access for the property, with the driveway starting up the road behind the house and sweeping through to the house and its integrated rear garaging and then out past the front of the house and back to the road.
The entry portion of the drive features an avenue of plane trees - the mention of which prompts a memory of their planting. Sue says the year was 1969 - Bob heard the news on the radio of the astronauts walking on the moon, while he was digging the holes for the young trees.
Other trees on the property include sycamore, a pin oak, gleditsia, puriri, pittosporum, puka, maple, rhododendron and camellia. The
latter can also be seen in a long hedge, Sue notes. “The school was selling camellias to raise money, so we put in a hedge.”
The grounds are also fruitful, with apple, mandarin, feijoa, plum and pear trees growing.
As Sue’s garden grew, so did the house.
It started life as a verandah-fronted, single-storey villa, before a major renovation project added new lowmaintenance Palliside uPVC cladding, a new roof with two bedrooms built into the upper space, and new living areas across the sunny frontage.
A verandah is still an upfront feature, but it now extends around the side of the house, covering the sunny deck across the living areas and continuing around to protect a shady deck looking out beneath the nearby oak tree and gardens.
The front door is now at the back of the house and opens into a welcoming foyer space which features the first of the tongue-and-groove timber wall linings that have been fixed throughout the house. “I was very keen on Lockwood houses at that time,” Sue explains.
The timber on the walls and ceilings is macrocarpa that was milled from trees felled on the farm. The matai floorboards in the foyer and through the extended living areas came from an old woolshed in the Taumarunui area.
Stairs rise from the hallway off the foyer to the two upstairs bedrooms - a double and a single enjoying the enhanced views that come with the extra height up there. Along the hallway are the original lounge with its feature timber fireplace, three double bedrooms, the family bathroom with its own rich timber detailing, separate toilet, and the internal access to the oversized, plywood-lined, double garage.
The master bedroom has the contemporary convenience of an ensuite and a wall of wardrobes, and bifolding windows that open wide to let in a cooling breeze on a hot day.
The extended living areas include the open kitchen and dining area on the front-right corner of the house looking out, with a half-wall of bricks recovered from the old Douglas brickworks separating the space from the comfort of the main lounge. “It’s a recycled house,” Sue jokes.
A former bedroom off the end of the lounge is now an office, with built-in bookshelves and seating, and French doors opening out to the shady side deck.
To the side of the house is a cottage that Bob and Sue built for Bob’s mother, presently rented, and which could now provide new owners with similar rental or AirBnB income, or become accommodation again for extended family.
In the grounds behind the house are a separate double garage with workshop space, and an implement shed for the lifestyle equipment.