Elevation offers privacy, views

This luxury home’s Oakura Beach setting was so good that its original builder-owners decided they needed to share it by building a home that included bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

The address of 1 Arden Place in Oakura puts the three-storey home on the back boundary of the seafront Shearer Reserve, which creates a green buffer between the house and a day on the sand. You don’t get a much better position along this beach.

From here, you can watch the activity all along the beach: swimmers and surfers splashing in the waves, bright-coloured sails dipping and diving as the wind lifts their passengers over the water, and boats further out coming and going on their fishing expeditions.

It’s all just there, seemingly metres from the front of this property, and yet there’s a sense of privacy as well, set back this modest distance from the beach and elevated above the action on the lower patio or behind the glass that borders the upper deck.

No wonder plenty of people took up the option of staying here.

The idea of sharing their home explains the ensuites that well-known builders Jimmy and Denise Seed planned for each of the four bedrooms on the bottom level, and the shared lounge and kitchen areas with access to the front yard and a gate opening on to the reserve lawns.

The bed-and-breakfast concept was a winner. For several years after its construction in 2003, visitors from all over the world stayed here to enjoy the proximity to the beach and the luxury resort lifestyle.

In 2013, the Seeds decided to sell their home and it became a beachfront holiday property for another Taranaki family. You can easily imagine the appeal of arriving here for an escape from the pressures of a work week, or extended family time during the school holidays.

Change is in the wind again, with the property back on the market and an opportunity for new owners to enjoy this unique home for themselves or, again, with others.

The property has as much appeal today as it did initially, perhaps even more with fewer chances now to develop such a home along the beach.

Its presentation makes an impact as you drive along Messenger Terrace; three storeys, a curved roof and frameless glass balustrades across wide decks give it a presence that draws plenty of admiring looks.

There’s practicality to back up the presentation. Durability is vital in the testing coastal conditions and the home’s builders chose quality, lowmaintenance materials. The exterior is predominantly plastered concrete block construction, the roof is aluminium, joinery was chosen specifically for the coastal proximity, and paint finishes feature a more durable product than needed in inland areas.

Official entry is off Arden Place, via a wide concrete driveway with plenty of room to park and manoeuvre vehicles.

Step inside the impressively large double doors and you find a blacktiled, step-down foyer space. Higher ceilings in here and throughout the house enhance the sense of space.

The main living area is on the other side of the part wall that separates it from the foyer. It’s a huge open-plan space, encompassing lounge, dining and kitchen areas, with a wealth of glass at the beach end spanning the full width of the deck that runs across the face of the house.

Two sets of bi-folding doors open wide to let life flow outside. A large stainless-steel barbecue tells a story of casual cooking and summer entertaining with family and friends. You can look out to the beach and any action on breaking waves or down on the reserve to admire the skills of skateboarders using the skate bowl.

The kitchen offers more formal meal preparations and is striking in its combination of rimu cabinets and black granite bench tops. The island bench is eye-catching with its curved face. The rear benches and cabinets behind include a convenient dropdown space where the mix of gas and electric cooktops sits, while the nearby dishwasher is elevated for similarly easy access.

The emphasis on rimu here is repeated throughout the three levels of the house, with doors, window frames, architraves and skirting boards all finished in the warm grain.

From the foyer, through rimu french doors, a hallway links to the stairs up and down, the guest powder room, a large laundry, and the internal access through a hobby or games room to the carpeted double garaging.

A wealth of cupboard space in the hobby room includes a cupboard where you find the control equipment for the solar hot-water system, the gas-fired backup cylinder and the boiler unit that feeds the under-floor heating in the two lower levels and the radiators of the third storey.

Take the stairs down and you can check out the four ensuite bedrooms and extra living space of the original bed-and-breakfast level. Sliding doors open out on to a terracotta tiled patio and the compact front lawn.

The stairs up reveal the master bedroom suite with its walk-through wardrobe, generous ensuite, adjacent living room and huge office. The bedroom and living area both open out to the upper balcony and the stunning view of the reserve and beachfront.

Finishing this uppermost level are two more double bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The rear bedroom has a view out to the Kaitake Ranges behind Oakura as well as looking west along the beach.

McDonald Real Estate consultant Robyn Burnett says it’s an exciting opportunity to market a property such as this. ‘‘This remarkable property sits in a grandstand position enjoying panoramic ocean views and looks over the bustle of Oakura beachfront activities. It offers a superb home and also the option of boutique accommodation in a prime setting.’’