THE HOUSE OF FUN
Couple prominent in the horse breeding industry wanted more time on their side at the beach, writes LEIGH BRAMWELL
On retiring from long and illustrious careers in the thoroughbred breeding industry, David and Masey Benjamin figured they deserved a house at the beach.
They’d been going to Hahei for years and loved the place but, as Masey puts it: “You’re sometimes not very free in the horse breeding industry and it wasn’t often enough”.
The couple, named New Zealand thoroughbred breeders of the year in 2004, decided to buy a section at Hahei and 14 years ago started looking.
It didn’t take long because there weren’t many sections available at the time, and even fewer that met Masey’s requirement for privacy.
They bought an elevated 2400sq m section in a private position with views of Hahei Beach and rural farmland.
Masey began b to plan the house for the site at 69 Grange Rd. “I knew what I wanted,” she says.
“I wanted an area that would
“I knew what I wanted — an area that would always be sheltered, so we had to have a courtyard that was out of the wind but from which we could still see the ocean.”
always be sheltered, so we had to have a courtyard that was out of the wind but from which we could still see the ocean.
“And bedroom wings on either side of the living area so they could be closed off.”
She designed a relaxed floorplan of 244sq m and sketches were dispatched to a draughtsman. He drew it up, and the project was underway.
The focal point of the house is an open plan living, dining and kitchen space which opens to a large deck on one side and the sheltered courtyard on the other.
There are plenty of areas to dine or lounge outside, and the plunge pool and spa are the icing on the cake.
There are four over-sized double bedrooms, with the two master rooms sharing a large en suite with twin vanities and a big walk-in shower.
The two guest bedrooms open to the outdoor courtyard and share a family-sized bathroom with an unexpectedly expansive sea view.
“Our house in Cambridge is an old bungalow and it’s very classic, so I wanted this place to be fun,” says Masey, who did all the interior design for the house.
Working from the ground up with American oak floors running throughout the house, she chose a palette of mainly blues, sea greens and offwhites, and had plenty of fun sourcing and adding furniture, paintings, textiles and art.
David is also interested in art and they have similar taste. “Often if we would walk into a shop we’d both go to pick up the same thing.”
They have collected artworks over time and many have special meaning. There’s a watercolour of David’s father’s yacht, and a favourtite work by artist Tom Burnett, who now calls the Bay of Plenty home.
Many of the bright, quirky objects were bought by Masey in Nantucket. With interior design that perfectly suits the location and purpose of the house, it’s a bonus that it is being sold fully furnished when it goes to auction on January 29.
Masey says the house has been 14 years of pure fun and they will really miss it. “What I’ll miss most is the space where we have the big dining table.
“We live around that table — eating, doing bookwork or just reading. It seats 12 people and I love it. All I hope is that there’ll be someone else who will love this place and enjoy it as much as we have.”
Sale: Auction January 29
Contact: Sheree Henderson, Bayleys, 027 6629558; Bev Calder, 027 279 4401