This edge-of-the-sea setting at Onaero has flavoured life for Jim and Judy for 38 years. So it’s not surprising they are leaving their much-loved home with real reluctance. Jim and Judy were quick to recognise the appeal here at 13 Motukari Place - despite not being able to go through the house. Their land agent suggested this property to them, explaining it was not on the market at that time, but would be. “We didn’t have a key, so we looked in the windows from the deck,” Jim recalls. They didn’t really need that look, though. The setting along the Onaero seafront had already captured them. “We made an offer on the way back to Waitara,” Judy says. “We just knew it was where we wanted to live for the rest of our lives.” Sitting here in their conservatory today, looking over the deck outside and the grounds below to the waves tumbling in to the shore, the speed of their decision seems absolutely sensible. Jim and Judy have certainly never regretted it. “It’s been an absolute joy to live here,” Judy says. The couple has travelled extensively and knows just how special this setting is. “It’s easily as nice as anything we’ve ever seen in the Mediterranean.”

This property of 1021sqm sits at the end of cul-de-sac Motukari Place, but you can’t appreciate it from its narrow tree-clad road frontage. That reveals little more than the doors of a double garage and its wrap of off-street paved parking. Take the path down the side of the garage, though, and you find the house sitting in the middle of the section that slopes down to the reserve grass along the seafront. It’s a sheltered spot, tucked back from the beach, and part of a select community of homes. “There are 11 houses here on the dress circle at this end of the beach,” says Jim, “and they all have different sea views.” Judy loves this particular setting. “I think we have the best,” she says with a smile.

The two-storey house was only about two years old when they moved in, and it gave them the main living areas, two bedrooms, a family bathroom, and a laundry at ground level, with the master bedroom upstairs and a second lounge that gave them even better views of the seafront and an enhanced appreciation of the outlook and environment. Outdoor living is easy in this home. The sun-soaked deck at the front is complemented by the shelter and greenery of a paved courtyard off the dining area. There’s a character styling to the home, with a timber theme throughout. The warmth of wood is emphasised in the tongue-and-groove rear wall linings of the lounge and dining areas, the cabinetry of the kitchen behind the dining area, the walls of the stairwell, and the built-in shelving of the upstairs lounge.

The peaceful feeling in this home impresses people, Jim says. One visitor, who had serious health issues, arrived for a quick cup of tea at 10am one day, and was still soaking up the atmosphere in the conservatory at 5pm. “I just want to stay here... it’s more therapeutic than anything else that’s available,” she told the couple. Jim and Judy have made thoughtful changes to the home in their time here, enlarging the lounge and creating a window seat in there, and adding the conservatory off the adjacent dining area. “We live in here,” Jim says of the conservatory. “Putting it in was the best thing we ever did,” Judy agrees. Relaxing here has produced some memorable experiences - they have seen both orca and humpback whales swimming past. And they can wave to their son as he powers past in his fishing boat. The seafront itself is accessible via a track from the reserve area in front of the property. It’s a sandy beach and at low tide you can get around the headland to enjoy longer walks along the Onaero seafront. That’s another feature that may prompt new owners to make a quick buying decision as Jim and Judy.