Following your heart

This five acre Coatesville farmlet comes complete with sheep, writes Erin Boyle.

ALL ROADS lead to home. That’s how expat Sarah Mackie, along with her husband, Dru, and three daughters, found their way to a Coatesville villa 12 years ago after leaving the hustle and bustle of city life in Sydney.

‘‘Dru was offered a job transfer and we just thought it would be the perfect lifestyle change for the family.

‘‘We heard Coatesville had a lovely community vibe, and we just knew it would be a great place to bring up children, as ours were aged 5 years, 3 years and 6 months when we moved here. We were then attracted to this property in particular because there aren’t many villas in this part of Auckland.’’

Life on the farm has been idyllic for the Mackie family. Their eldest daughter has been riding horses since she was 8.

With ponies being grazed in the paddocks over the years, and chickens and a pond which brings in the ducks, Sydney is almost a nonexistent memory.

The Mackies also inherited 10 sheep from the previous owner and on their first Christmas Day in the house they were pleasantly surprised by the birth of a new lamb, not realising there had been a ram among the group.

They still have two of the girls’ original ‘‘Ag Day’’ lambs, which are now two huge and overfriendly Suffolk sheep, who happen to be included in the sale of the property.

As the house is down a long concrete driveway, Sarah says they never have to worry about any animals getting too close to the main road.

And while she says some people find the long entrance a bit offputting, the Mackies have always enjoyed the privacy and peace that comes from being located some distance from the road.

‘‘Our dogs can run around free all day on five acres and don’t have to be tied up.

‘‘And we don’t have to be locked up behind any big gates. We just see it as such a huge advantage and really love the freedom we get from it.’’

For the first six years they lived in the house with the layout of a typical villa, with walls dividing the kitchen, dining and living room, as well as no separate laundry space or wardrobes in the bedrooms.

But after an architect friend drew up some plans for alterations, the Mackies decided it was time to make some changes and completed the addition in two stages.

Along with extra rooms for the family, they also created a large open plan space for the living areas which Sarah says is perfect for socialising with each other and entertaining friends and relatives.

No expense was spared on the kitchen’s white composite bench top, gas hob oven and fixtures, and recycled timber was used on the floor to fit in with the rest of the house.

The kitchen is now the Mackie’s favourite spot in the house.

‘‘The open-plan kitchen and dining area with huge bifold doors