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Anchorage cottage just 60m², but ‘like a Tardis inside’
The Anchorage in Karitane is a small crib that stops people in their tracks, but it's size is deceiving.
This wee crib for sale in Karitane, Dunedin is all about offering the best of both worlds - old-world character with modern amenities, which means you get beautifully restored wooden sash windows with double glazing.
But it’s the traditional charm that grabs passers-by, as owners Tim and Jan Wright can attest. “The locals are all familiar with the cottage, but every new person who walks past stops and says, ‘isn’t that gorgeous’.”
Cane chairs on the front veranda - a perfect way to while away an afternoon.
Like the owners before them, the Wrights ensured that any changes were in keeping with the traditional character of the cottage.
With a little picket gate, a curved, brick-edged pathway and lots of tumbling roses around the fence and the veranda, this is no surprise. And it’s easy to see what appealed to the Wrights when they bought the property in 2013.
“We live in Oamaru, and this has been our bolthole,” Tim Wright says. “Much of the work was already done - it was rehashed in 1985, but the owners kept all the character. For example, they even replaced all the ropes in the sash windows, so everything works perfectly, and the double glazing made a huge difference."
The couple have continued to improve the cottage. “We have done everything we can do to it without overdoing it,” Wright says. “It’s a good, solid little crib and well insulated.”
The crib has been recarpeted, and there is a kwila veranda with Clearlite panels overhead that ensure the interior remains light and sunny.
Despite being a mere 60m², the cottage has two bedrooms, plus a third mezzanine bedroom that was already in place when the Wrights moved in. Listing agent Rhys Vidgen of One Agency says it’s like a Tardis: “It looks small, but it seems quite big inside. Everything is a bit of an illusion.”
Exposed beams that follow the roofline reinforce a sense of space in the tiny crib.
A mezzanine floor reached by a ladder provides an additional sleeping space.
The kitchen-dining-living room is now one open-plan space, with very traditional cream-painted kitchen cabinets that resemble old-world match-lining.
A ladder leads up to the mezzanine - Wright says they experimented with different positions to find the best place for the ladder. And that space is flooded with light from a large window.
“It’s very tidy, for whoever goes in there,” Wright says. “All that have to do is unpack their bags and put their feet up.”
Painted boards form the cabinet doors in the kitchen that’s perfectly in keeping with tradition.
The couple also added a timber shed out the back on the 468m² section. “It’s a little hut with a verandah, and it wouldn’t be hard to ‘Batts it’ and line it and use it as a sleepout. It’s removable. We bought it in Dunedin as a kitset, and we added the verandah so it went with the house, although it is out of sight from the road. It’s a cutie.”
Wright says he and Jan have listed the property because they are retired and now have grandchildren in Western Australia. They want to be able to help the family out and spend more time over there.
Space is maximised at every turn.
This is one of two bedrooms in the cottage.
Vigden is familiar with that family pull that sees properties come to market: “It’s hard to let go when there’s a lot of emotion involved.”
But it’s time for someone else to enjoy this perfect little waterfront bolthole.
The property, at 1383 and 1385 Coast Rd, is just across the road from the water in the Karitane seaside village, and has river-to-sea views. It’s just minutes from a white sand beach, and is priced at $675,000.
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