Secret waterside sanctuary
Edged by bush with the beach in front, this has been a Friday night bolt hole, writes Donna McIntyre
Apriority when John and Lynn Lander were looking for a weekender some 16 years ago was finding a bach within easy reach of Auckland. After a couple of years’ searching, they compromised after seeing a section at Snells Beach.
“We saw it and bought it on the same day. It is private, sheltered and it has great views,” says Lynn. “You are looking out to Kawau Bay and there is a peninsula that goes out to Tawharanui.
“It has bush all around and lots of birds and, even better, it is just a two- minute walk down the lane to the water.”
They camped here in the first year. “We just put a tent up. It was great fun,” says Lynn.
For the build, they engaged Les Dykstra, of Architects- ldl, with a brief for clean lines, big windows to open to the views and lots of storage built in.
They also opted for low- maintenance materials including laminated cedar exterior.
“It was imported specially, it is Canadian and it stops the cedar from warping when it is exposed to the sea air. Les recommended we use this,” says Lynn.
The two- level bach has three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Downstairs are the living and kitchen, laundry and toilet. There is also an outdoors shower as well as a small boathouse for storing kayaks.
“We have kept the furniture simple and uncluttered so it feels like a bach,” says Lynn.
She singles out her favourite feature in the bach as the window seat in the living area.
“It is a long seat, long enough to lie down on, and the sun streams in. I have been known to nod off over a book there.”
For outdoors living they have a kwila deck downstairs and upstairs there’s a balcony off the main bedroom.
Upstairs ceilings are a Canadian hoop pine, downstairs ceilings are painted. Decor is mainly neutral but there are two feature walls — pohutukawa downstairs and the master bedroom has a charcoal- grey wall.
“The house is not a huge house; it’s about 112 sq m,” says Lynn. “We often had it filled with family and friends but it is just as comfortable with just the two of us.
“One of the best things for us was we could leave town on a Friday afternoon and be on the deck with the barbecue on and the wine poured in about an hour.
“You don’t need a lawn mower as there is no lawn to mow. I have a small vegetable plot where I have grown potatoes for Christmas dinner, and lettuce and a few herbs. Obviously someone could develop a garden but it is a bit tricky when you are running a bach and you are not here all the time to tend it.”
Lynn says the bach has been like a retreat for her and John. “We have been retired for a year or two now but when we were both working in town it was amazing to come here on a Friday night. I like cooking so it was a real slow food place, we used to spend a lot of time just pottering around in the kitchen.
“I think the privacy was what appealed to us. It is a house set in bush with sea views. When you are in the house and sitting on the deck you can’t actually see any neighbours. You just see the water. It is a very calm kind of a place to be.”
And she says the area’s rivers and estuaries are fantastic for kayaking.
“There are great places for walking and cycling all around. There are several regional parks, Scandrett Regional Park, Scotts Landing,
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* Properties in the area are selling well in excess of CV. Tawharanui and Leigh Marine Reserve all nearby. And of course the wineries of Matakana, the Saturday market, the restaurants. “And there is Omaha, there are lots of beaches. “There is heaps to do but you can also be equally lazy with a book on the deck.”
The couple are selling because now they are retired they want to travel. “We love the house, we have great neighbours but it is time for us to travel further afield,” says Lynn. “We hope the next people who live here will be as happy as we have been. I kind of think the next owners will be people like me 15 years ago, people who have big and busy jobs in the city and need a convenient bolt hole.
“Although it would suit a family. There is a really good primary school just a walk away.”