- A 1940s bungalow in Makarau offers a rural lifestyle with home and income potential.
- Makarau features lifestyle blocks with views of Kaipara Harbour, attracting buyers from Auckland.
- Properties range from $550,000 to $800,000, with options for building and existing homes.
Fancy a bit of Grey Lynn but in the rolling countryside? You can get that in the little rural community of Makarau, to Auckland’s northwest in Rodney, although you have to make your own brunch, says Aritzo agent Christian Newman.
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He is marketing a 1940s relocated villa that once had an address in the desirable central city suburb, and while details about the big move to Makarau – about 17 minutes from Warkworth and an hour or so from Grey Lynn - were scarce, Newman says the renovated four-bedroom home has been in place since about 2000.
At 9.74ha, it’s on a much larger section than its old home in the city, yet Newman says it won’t cost nearly as much as a Grey Lynn villa today – and making your own brunch is not that hard.
“You know what? You've got the feijoas and the apples and the bananas, so you can easily go out the back, grab some fruit off your orchard, or some eggs from your hen barn and whip up some banana bread or some feijoa crumble and whatever else.”
Makarau was traditionally dairy country and now features many lifestyle blocks with agents saying the area has lots to offer.
Properties for sale range from the run-down to the classy: there's a shed on a piece of land which the vendors began turning into their dream home before circumstances changed, and there is a small subdivision of lifestyle blocks up for grabs with views of the Kaipara Harbour.
The West Coast Road villa was relocated from Grey Lynn and placed in the middle of a 9.7ha lifestyle block. Photo / Supplied
The vendors have run weddings at the property, and so too could the new owners. Photo / Supplied
Newman says living in the relocated villa he has listed at 306 West Coast Road is an easy drive to Warkworth, Silverdale and Albany. “It's all about that lifestyle - spending time with your family doing things that you want to be doing rather than sitting in the car going from errand to errand," he tells OneRoof.
“Now you can slow down and spend the time with the family, spend the time on yourself.”
306 West Coast Road, he says, lends itself to home and income possibilities, such as a wedding venue. Newman says the vendors hosted a very cool wedding there: “They extended the lawn to create an Infinity Lawn out to the cows and the animals, and set up a tent and hay bales and created an aisle. It was pretty epic, actually.”
Newman has been looking into glamping tents, saying buyers could perhaps create something similar to the boutique Green Tent, a Mongolian-style yurt in Matakana, or just have the property for family and raise some animals.
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“Makarau is the perfect place for it. It's got a beautiful little community. It’s close to the Ahuroa Fire Station, where they run lots of community events. The school bus goes by and picks up all the rural school kids. There's a good equestrian community if you're into horses.
“So lots to love. Obviously, you're close to the largest harbour in the southern hemisphere - that’s the Kaipara Harbour. You're close to Gibbs [Sculpture] Farm, which is just down the road.
“There's just so much going for it in that area. It’s an unknown area that's super close to Auckland, whether you want to go up north to your bach and the beaches or you want to go overseas and you head on down to the airport, you're kind of away from everything but close enough if you need it.”
A lot of people from Auckland’s North Shore, and some from the central city suburbs, buy up this way, Newman says. “Lots of boomers moving up out of the city, downsizing and cashing out from their properties, so they can retire and live a quieter life with some cash in the bank account.”
Also up for grabs in Makarau is a run-down shed on a 1ha block at 138 Wech Access Road. It is looking for offers over $555,000. Photo / Supplied
Farmers move there, too, from bigger farms, downsizing but still wanting to “tinker”.
Ray White agent Peter Morton has a more rundown property on the market, consisting of a shed and a tiny secondary unit on a hectare of land, for offers over $555,000.
The vendors bought the property about a year ago and were excited, planning to turn it into a lifestyle home, but their circumstances changed, he said.
Agents spoke of a perception problem with Makarau: people think it’s in the wop wops, but it’s closer than you think.
Morton says the area has become more recognised as everything pushes out. Twenty years ago Dairy Flat, about 35 minutes away, was considered a secondary location to Coatesville, he says.
“Slowly but surely it's moved out from Dairy Flat to Waitoki and then on out further from Wainui.”
Warkworth is the closest township to Makarau, so those who want coffee and brunch don’t have far to go, but there are no shops in the rural area itself, he says.
Bayleys is selling house and land packages at 199 Tuhirangi Road, in Makarau. Photo / Supplied
The agency just sold a new-build property on Tuhirangi Road for over $1.2m. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Manny Correia is marketing a small subdivision of elevated lifestyle blocks called Tuhirangi Heights in Makarau, most of which have “amazing” views of the Kaipara Harbour.
One completed home sold in January as a house and land package for $1.29m.
There are two parts to the subdivision – house and land packages, or blocks for those who want to build themselves with nine all up, and another three due in the future.
“The rest of the property is in about 180/190ha of land, which has got biking tracks, it's got walking tracks; everything.
“It’s got amazing sea views over Gibbs Farm, so you've got some really amazing sea views. Most of the sections have a sea view. I think there's one that's perhaps pure rural.”
Besides the view, the air is clean, he says: “You don’t have city smog around here, and it's dead quiet, so if you want peace and serenity, that's the place to go to. It's just so serene.”
Prices range from upwards of $550,000 for a 1.3ha block to around $800,000 for a 2ha block.
Correia says that about 10 minutes away in Kaukapakapa, a section with similar land and views would cost twice as much.
He also says people think Makarau is far away, but it was the same distance from Silverdale Pak n Save to Gulf Harbour as it was to Makarau – about 30 minutes, but in Makarau people can have chooks and animals, too.
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