Churton Park
An expanding suburb, perfect for families
Overview
Originally established in the 1960s with further bursts of building activity in the 1980s and 2000s, Churton Park is still Wellington’s fastest growing residential area. There is a size, style and price for every budget within Churton Park. Sheltered and sunny, with plentiful green space and a new shopping area, it’s no wonder that Churton Park is a haven for families. New homes pop up almost daily as Churton Park extends northwards. One day it might even join up with Tawa!
Best Suited To
Families, those who prefer a well-insulated, modern home; anyone who likes to be about halfway between Wellington and Porirua City.
Population Profile
This is one of Wellington’s largest family-oriented areas. It also hosts a large number of people born outside New Zealand, particularly Chinese and Indian families who seem to prefer newer housing in comparison to old, draft-prone Wellington villas. Asian families make up about 30% of the population. Most locals are middle class, often working in Wellington City or in nearby Johnsonville. Married couples with children dominate.
Typical Homes
The earliest homes in Churton Park date from the 1960s. These are typically single or split level family homes, and many are regarded as architecturally inspiring, having introduced then-radical ideas such as indoor/outdoor living.
The suburb continued to grow through the 1980s, when building design often featured two level, cedar weatherboard clad homes. A further explosion in building occurred in the 1990s, when monolithic clad dwellings became the norm.
Current trends have been back to more traditional materials such as brick veneer or weatherboards.
Amenities
Churton Park waited a long time for its’ own shopping area. That finally arrived in 2011, with a village development on the corner of Lakewood Avenue. This development includes a New World supermarket, café, pharmacy, medical centre, hairdresser, vet, real estate agency, fish and chip shop, and other food outlets. The village is an attractive design, fitting into the overall look and feel of the community.
Churton Park School is set on Churton Drive, while the recently built Amesbury School (opened 2012) is set on Amesbury Drive. Both cater for years 1 to 6 (ages 5-10). The nearest secondary schools are Newlands College and Onslow College, both situated about 10 minutes drive south of the suburb.
Outdoor public areas in Churton Park include the Lakewood Reserve and Amesbury School fields. The reserve is situated in a wide, attractively planted gully, and contains a playground and dog exercise area. Mountain biking is permitted in the reserve but there is limited space for this. The hillsides surrounding Churton Park are private land, although we suspect that this doesn’t deter some of the locals venturing up into them.
Real Estate Trends
A four bedroom near-new home in Churton Park will normally sell somewhere between $1.3 million and $1.6 million. Larger homes of five bedrooms or more can reach up to the $2 million dollar mark. Beyond $2 million buyers tend to look at the more salubrious northern suburbs of Khandallah and Wadestown.
The older parts of Churton Park, where 1960s and 1970s homes dominate, offer quite generously sized homes on attractive garden sites for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
There are often vacant sites available, as Churton Park is still growing. However, these tend to be sold as land-and-home packages by builders. If you find a vacant site to purchase outright, expect to pay anywhere between $500,000 and $900,000, depending on its size and contour.
Best Streets
The upper reaches of Winsley Terrace enjoys all-day sun and an attractive outlook over the suburb and surrounding hills. However, this area is more exposed to wind from the north. Well-established homes with large flat sections on Westchester Drive achieve strong prices. Montrose Grove was established in the 1980s and is an attractive, quiet, no-exit cul-de-sac with great sun.
House Prices
Older three bed house, from $800,000.
Newer three bedroom house, from $1.2 million.
Older four bed house, from $950,000.
Newer four bedroom house, from $1.3 million.
Travel Times
Central city – driving 15 minutes non-peak, 25 minutes peak.
Airport – driving 25 minutes non-peak.
Hutt Valley- driving 15-20 minutes via Ngauranga Gorge.
Weather
Churton Park sits in an open valley, surrounded by hills to the north and west. This gives the suburb a good deal of protection from Wellington’s northerlies, especially those properties that are placed to the northern side of the suburb. However, these homes can suffer in a strong southerly, especially if they have no protection from this direction.