Bush, birds and views for miles - Auckland home with hectare of land hits the market

When Natalie and Russell Coombes first viewed the Laingholm property which would become their family home for nearly 40 years, their reaction was “oh no!”

The house in question was built in 1975, nestled tightly into the native bush of Auckland's Waitakere Ranges, on a rare flat piece of land.

Designed by notable New Zealand architect Simon Carnachan, well-known for his light, sunny houses with expanses of glass and soaring ceilings, it was, alas, a little worse for wear by 1989, when Natalie and Russell visited.

But, when you know, you know and the bones of the house were good. Although they weren’t looking for a do-up, the couple immediately saw a house ripe with possibility. “We fell in love with the home, just the quirkiness and uniqueness of it,” says Russell.

They paid a few visits to the property before signing on the dotted line to “try and get our heads around how it was laid out and constructed,” he adds.

Once moved in they set about methodically cleaning, painting and repairing. They didn’t stop there though - Natalie and Russell had some of their own grand designs in mind - particularly for the “postage stamp” sized kitchen.

Russell, an electrician by trade, was undaunted about drawing up his own additions for a house created by a renowned architect - and he got to work.

“I did a lot of hand sketching of things that we wanted and how it would look. My brother's a builder who’s won awards so I could approach him about various things, and I did speak to Simon Carnachan … and he liked what I'd sketched, but he said ‘you're going to have to get it engineered’ so I got it drawn up.”

The couple wanted to keep the home’s original theme of a glass northwest-facing wall and saw an example they liked in a magazine. “It was in the home of one of the guys who worked at Cedarlite,” says Russell. So they engaged the company to create the design and construction of the roof for the kitchen and dining room.

Building up and out was also on the agenda. As well as the kitchen, Natalie and Russell had the dining room and laundry moved to create a large lounge space. A beautiful rimu spiral staircase they found on Waiheke Island was modified and installed, and two roof sections were joined - a huge undertaking. “You do stupid things in your twenties … but it’s been our passion,” laughs Natalie.

The result of their work is a family retreat surrounded by 1.38 hectares of native bush - the kauri, rimu and puriri providing a habitat for tui, piwakawaka, kereru and ruru, and with views beyond which take in the Waitakere Ranges, right across to Waiatarua.

Laingholm and its neighbouring suburb of Titirangi are full of architecturally interesting houses, and this home sits firmly in that category. Its two A-frame roof gables, canopy-like glass kitchen roof, porthole and half-moon windows, a smattering of stained glass, an attic bedroom complete with pull-down ladder, and a joyful colour scheme gives this four bedroom, two bathroom home with wrap-around decking a personality all its own.

“It feels like you’re always on holiday here,” says Natalie. “It was a really neat place to bring up children, it’s so safe. We used to slide down the section on fronds and build treehuts with the kids.”

“The bush becomes part of the house,” adds Russell. “There are views of it from every room. You can open the whole lot up on both sides of the lounge, and it's like you are sitting in the bush. The birds come very close to the house. We've had wood pigeons fly through one side of the lounge to the other, taking a shortcut.”

Now the property is on the market for the first time in nearly 40 years as Natalie and Russell embark on their next phase of life. For a house they’ve invested so much time and care in, it’ll be a wrench to finally leave. “There’ll be lots of tears, lots of hankies,” says Natalie. It’ll be quite heartbreaking.”

They’re mulling where they’ll move to, with the Coromandel and Waikato both on their list - but they agree it will be somewhere near the bush.

“We love this home, we actually adore this home, but we feel it's time that a new family loved it,” says Russell. “It's a big house for two people. I hope someone will love it as much as we have.”

27a Tane Road, Laingholm is listed with Scott Larsen at Harcourts Titirangi Blue Fern Realty, selling price by negotiation.

Open homes are being held on December 14, January 4 and 11.

The May 2024 CV on the property is $1,325,000. Cotality puts the current median property value in Laingholm at $1,003,212.