Family are always asking us if they can house-sit, even if we’re not going away. They call it “the resort”.

Mum’s Advice

When Paul Brockett was 18 years old he left Penrose College and was set to join the Air Force. While waiting for the intake to begin, Paul’s mother suggested he apply for jobs being advertised at Fisher & Paykel. It was good advice and Paul stayed on at F&P. “Mum told me not to spend all my money. I listened to her and by the time I was 21 I had enough to build my first home in Highland Park”.

It wasn’t the only good thing to come out of working for the iconic New Zealand company. It was there that he met wife Leisa, a local Howick girl. Almost 30 years on, Paul, with Leisa and family, built again, this time on a jaw-dropping section in Whitford surrounded by native bush and birdlife...

Finding the section

“We came across the section by accident. I was driving around trying to find a place to dump some old Ready-Lawn and I saw the “for sale” sign. I called Leisa straight away to come up and have a look”.

“We bought the section, and our architect designed an incredible house. Jalcon Homes put it all together with builder Jason Roper who was amazing. Incredible eye for detail. I think what makes Jalcon Homes unique is their old school work ethic. Taking pride in your work and using the very best people around”. The house won Gold in the 2008 Master Builders’ Home of the Year Awards.

 
Best seats in the house

We have to admit that when it comes to a beautiful landscape, great scenery and gorgeous skies, most of that is up to nature. We can however, put the right windows in the right places, make them nice and big and then point your house in the right direction. At Paul and Leisa Brockett’s place that’s exactly what we did.

We gave them front row seats to 15 breath-taking hectares of native bushclad hillside - a huge 2-level deck skirting the entire frontage of the house with built-in swimming pool and spa, barbecue and outdoor entertainment area.

Life at “The Resort”

Living, sleeping and study areas are all built to face across the valley except their son’s room. But, as Paul says, “the curtains are closed pretty much 24/7 in there so it’s no big deal”. With that small exception, there’s no chance of escaping the rugged beauty of pungas, ferns, 100 year-old native trees and accompanying birdsong. And that’s fine by the Brocketts.

  “We’d built a second garage to store the ride on mower, tools & bikes. But Jalcon finished it to the same quality as the rest of the house so we turned it into a rumpus room. As a result
our 4 car garage only has enough room for 3 cars.”

Paul and Leisa Brockett
(Whitford)