General manager Therese Jeffs said the facility would be fully fenced, with only one way in and out, which would be monitored.
A communal area such as a hall is planned for the second stage of the development and will be able to be used by the wider Ngongotaha community.
Mrs Jeffs said households would be run like normal households, with activities like the laundry and cooking carried out in each household, by staff with the help of residents, if they wanted to assist.
She said there was the idea that the residents could decide what they wanted for lunch or dinner, then head down with staff to the superette to pick up what was needed. Residents would be able to help with the meal preparations if they wanted to, or at least be a part of the atmosphere of preparing the meal, like they would be in a normal home.
"It will be a huge development opportunity for staff as well."
It would be about "normalising life" for the residents.
Support services manager Deanna Smit said, within the grounds, residents would be able to go wherever they wanted.
"Nothing will be a wrong choice for them, whatever choice they make will be the right one. We're not going to add to any of their confusion."
The pair said they didn't sit down with plans to create a Kiwi version of De Hogeweyk but went in with completely open minds.
"We had this idea that we wanted to create something providing a better life for people who live in aged care," Mrs Smit said.
It supports the current direction of Whare Aroha CARE, which supports the idea that elderly are not dying of illness and disease but loneliness, haplessness and boredom.
Mrs Jeffs said the response to the plans so far had been "overwhelmingly positive".
"People are excited and there is interest because it's a different way of delivering care."
Whare Aroha CARE is currently at Hinemaru St, but its lease is set to expire, prompting the move. It was expected the new village would open mid-2017.