Paradise Found: NZ Cottage With Kiwi Calls Seeks New Owners

Frank and Diane Boonen spent a lifetime searching for paradise, and they found it in a cottage surrounded by ancient trees where kiwi call to each other at night.

Their home, Laurelbank Cottage, sits on half a hectare of native forest just 10 minutes north of Coromandel Town. A one-minute walk from the front door leads to a swimming hole in the crystal-clear stream that provides all their drinking water.

The cottage was built 60 years ago by a craftsman who poured his heart into every detail. He used native rimu and kauri hardwood throughout, creating geometric window frames and parquet floors that give the home its soul.

The property includes a two-bedroom main cottage and a separate studio with its own kitchenette and shower, totaling about 91 square meters. There's a coal range that heats water and cooks meals, and electricity connects to the grid.

Outside, nikau palms and ancient pūriri trees tower over thoughtfully landscaped gardens. The orchard grows grapefruit, peach, pear and plum trees, and there's room to build another dwelling if the next owners want to expand.

The location balances seclusion with convenience. Coromandel Town's shops and cafés are less than 10 minutes away, and the Auckland ferry terminal is about 15 minutes by car. The boat launch is three minutes away, where Frank says catching snapper is "like shopping."

In three years of ownership, the Boonens added skylights, painted and repaired, and improved the landscaping. When they travel to their second home in Italy each year, the property only needs three days of maintenance when they return.

Sunny's Take

What makes this story shine isn't just the fairytale setting. It's that Frank and Diane actively protect the kiwi that nest on their land with possum traps, and they've created a space where quail, wood pigeons and tūī thrive alongside them.

The couple is leaving only to support family in Waihi Beach who need them nearby. They're asking $850,000 for the property, above its 2023 government valuation of $690,000.

Their three years at Laurelbank Cottage proved that paradise isn't always a beach in the tropics, sometimes it's a stream-fed haven where native birds sing you awake each morning.