- A 1960s bach at Campbells Beach, Tawharanui Peninsula, is listed for over $2m.
- The property, with only two owners in 60 years, is described as a quintessential Kiwi bach.
- Another historic bach at Wharekaho, Whitianga, with six bedrooms, is going to auction on March 5.
Beachfront baches often stay in families for generations, and current listings on offer in some prime holiday spots are no exception.
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A 1960s bach less than 20 steps from the water at 1 Campbell Road, in the tiny community of Campbells Beach on the Tawharanui Peninsula, has only had two owners in the last 60 years.
The property last sold in 2000 for $412,000, but Ray White agent Richard Turner said the price indication now was north of $2m.
The listing describes the bach as “unpretentious, authentic and rich in character” and a once-in-a-generation chance to secure a piece of classic Kiwi coastal living in a place where few ever let go.
Turner told OneRoof that anything beachfront had a premium, but the scarcity of opportunity to buy beachfront on the Tawharanui Peninsula added to interest and demand.
“People don’t get the opportunity to purchase here very often.”
The vendors paid $412,000 for the quintessential Campbells Beach property in 2000. The bach is now expected to fetch north of $2m. Photo / Supplied
Campbells Beach is about an hour north of Auckland and about nine minutes from Matakana.
Turner, who is marketing the property with his wife and colleague Victoria, said the location was so delightful that he did not mind spending his weekends there at open homes.
Campbells Beach, with its pōhutukawas and safe swimming, was reminiscent of how Kiwis used to spend their summers. “It is a really quintessential Kiwi bach. It’s winding the clock back. We’ve had families through it, and everyone’s gone, ‘This is how Kiwi holidays used to be’.
“There’s a playground right next door, so you can sit on the deck and watch your kids playing on the playground while you’re cooking a steak on the barbie. It really is that quintessential Kiwi summer living.”
The locals knew the rhythm of the tides, he says: “I was out there the other day and watched locals drop anchor on their boats and hop out and walk up to the beach and then a couple of hours later walk back to the boat through waist-deep water and off they go again.”
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Locals have told him one in six houses in the community is permanently occupied, which made the area very much a holiday destination.
“You drive down there, and it’s just a lovely little spot. I’ve been there on a couple of the nicest days, not that we’ve had many nice days this summer, but I’ve been there on a couple of the nicest ones, and there were a few people down there having picnics on the reserve, but I would doubt whether it ever gets busy. It’s quite a relaxing place.”
Locals have also told him: “We don’t like to tell too many people, so when anything does come up for sale we worry about anyone finding out about the place.”
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom bach did not sell at auction and is now for sale by negotiation. Turner said there had been an “unbelievable” amount of interest and that there was still interest from conditional buyers who were present at the auction.
A large property on two titles at 2 Wharekaho Road, at Wharekaho/Simpsons Beach, in the Coromandel, is heading to auction next month. Photo / Supplied
Another bach for sale on OneRoof can be found at the historic Wharekaho/Simpsons Beach, in Whitianga, on the Coromandel.
The six-bedroom retreat at 92 Wharekaho Road has been in the same family for 44 years and goes to auction on March 5.
Bayleys listing agent Belinda Sammons said working out a price indication was tricky as there had only been two sales on the beachfront in the last five years.
One sold for $1.8m and was subsequently demolished and replaced by a new-build; the other, a few doors down, sold for $2.9m.
92 Wharekaho Road was special because it was two sites on one title. Sammons, who is selling with colleague Kylie Pullen, said it was unusual to have a double site with the space and the length along the front, so there were views from all the rooms.
It was also soaked in history; the owners believe it was the first home to be built on the beach, and there was a large pōhutukawa tree that Captain Cook was said to have drawn in his journal when he came to Simpsons Beach.
The owner of a 1930s two-bedroom waterside bungalow at 1946 Whangarei Heads Road, in Whangarei Heads, is selling because of a change of circumstances. Photo Supplied
The property has been owned by two generations of the same family over the years. The decision to sell was a hard one, as was generally the case with properties that had been in the family for such a long time, she said.
There was definite interest from buyers, as there always was with waterfront properties: “It’s that Kiwi dream, isn’t it, to have a property where you’re right out there in front of the ocean?”
At McLeod Bay, in Whangarei Heads, a 1930s two-bedroom waterside bungalow is up for grabs with an RV $1.65m.
Owner Amanda Monks had bought the unusual property as a deceased estate. She had intended to hold onto it “forever”, but things changed, she told OneRoof. “Really, I should be holding on to it for the next generation, but I’ve had a change in circumstances, so it’s time for me to move on and pass it on to someone else who’s going to fall in love with it and make it even more special than it already is.”
The house was run-down when she bought it, but the garden was amazing, she said.
Monks decorated inside, fenced and landscaped, and rebuilt the boatshed where one of the former owners made beautiful, wooden dinghies. “He taught lots of the local boys watercraft, so sailing and how to use oars and all of that, so I’ve kept all his workbench and things in there because I wanted to keep that part of the story as well.”
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