Pumpkin Hill, Tairua

Hello Lovely People!

COME & LIVE SURROUNDED BY NATURE & ANIMALS, IN AN ARCHITECTURALLY DESIGNED, WOODEN PASSIVE HOUSE IN THE COROMANDEL PENINSULA!

SCENARIO: We live in a brand new Passive House, architecturally designed by hubby Steve and built by us, very high spec, new induction cook top, European appliances, feature lighting, Starlink Internet etc... totally off the grid! This means knowledge of living off solar panels and tank water would be useful! Though sometimes challenging it is an awesome way to live.

As the house is Passive it is warm during the winter due to its construction and using a ventilation system with heat recovery, so our power is not taken up by running or heating the house. When solar power runs out a petrol generator kicks in, which is more expensive to run so being aware of the solar is helpful for this! Our toilet looks usual but all the waste goes to an underground composting chamber with tiger worms which means no chemicals/beaches/dyes or anything non-natural can be flushed down any of the water drains as the worms will die!

The land is 4.4 hectares of native bush, which we are cradled by, as well as having a lovely outlook over it, to a smidge of sea, Mt Paku and Slipper Island in the distance. The town is 15min drive away, Tairua. It is quite small but very friendly and we have a mini-supermarket, a few restaurants and cafes, other shops etc. as well as beautiful beaches and a heap of national park so lots of walks! Whitianga is a 35min drive in the other direction and has two major supermarkets, The Warehouse etc. for bigger shops. You will need a car/your own transportation for this house sit.

HUMANS: We are a family of five, including myself - Amy, artist and designer (46), my husband, Steve, architectural designer (46), our girls Stella (11) & Ruby (9), as well as my mother Maria, awesome cook & entrepreneur, who lives in a 30m2 studio on our land and comes on holidays with us.

ANIMALS: We have two small dogs, Pipi Aroha, female mini foxy (5) & Turbo, male chihuahua, jack russell cross (3)... They are kind of full on, very excitable and a bit out of control, sometimes loud and a bit like babies, need lots of time and love. They will be scared to start with but after about a day, once they get to know you, they are the smoochiest, loveliest little furry babies!

We have seven awesome chickens too - one who we hand reared who wants to be cuddled and talked to (Honey Feather, who is also a blue egg layer!) as well as two others who like a pat, Fern and Bell, plus the other ladies, who like to be chatted too and fed treats, Lolly, Cherry, Luna and our half sized girl (bantam), Lilliput. These are all different heritage breeds, so they will lay most days but not all and will be in our family for over 10 years, as the heritage ladies last a lot longer than the bred-for-laying hens.

LAYOUT: The Passive House is 60m2, has one bedroom with a super king bed, one bathroom, and an open space living/kitchen/dinning plus a little laundry room. The outside living is a large deck with table and chairs, sofa area and an outdoor bath. Attached to the house via the very large deck is a sleep out (we call the Dolls House, 11m2) which is the girls room with two single beds. The studio (where mum is) is a 30m2 room about 55m from the main house, as well as another 9m2 sleepout next to it, no-one will be in these two spaces but not available to the house sitters.

ABOUT YOU!: A single 'happy to be alone' person or a couple who enjoy nature and are very careful and respectful to our new home and very loving towards animals would be preferred for this job.

The dogs cannot be left for more than a few hours per day, so someone who will stay on the land most of the time would be required.