The journey to this beach house near Mangawhai Heads is punctuated by assertive bullocks (who must, gently but firmly, be coaxed off the rural road), sheep warming their bellies on the gravel drive, and a pair of pheasants that race the car, their triple-plume tails flying out behind them. It all feels rather adventurous, so the arrival into a courtyard sanctuary, where stately kahikatea stand sentinel above a gravel-and-grasses garden, is an instant change of pace.
Simplicity is what the owners of this
