Top chef cooks up love nest

Katrina Van Dam and Simon Gault. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

MasterChef judge Simon Gault is building his dream $2 million love nest in South Auckland.

Work has begun on the telly chef's idyllic Karaka home that he will share with wife Katrina.

The three-bedroom black cedar-and-brick hideaway on a lifestyle block 40km south of Queen St will feature a Japanese-style "Zen garden", an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven and a heated outdoor swimming pool.

Gault said he had spared no expense in the kitchen.

Facilities include a Subzero fridge and De Dietrich cookers.

The luxurious master bedroom will lead to a large en suite and walk-in dressing room, which opens on to the Zen garden, surrounded by a 2m stone wall.

"The walk-in wardrobe is big enough so that should keep the wife happy," he said.

The living room is floor-to-ceiling glass and has cutaway corner windows.

Gault and Katrina have been living in a converted barn on the property since they married last September. The barn will be converted into a state-of-the-art kitchen where he will work on new recipes and film cooking shows.

"The scullery will look a bit like a deli."

Gault said he wasn't sure exactly how much the property was worth but the land was valued at $1 million alone.

Gault bought the block nine years ago and has said he wanted to wait until he had enough money to build his dream home.

The property holds special significance for the couple as Gault proposed to Katrina, 37, at a nearby lake.

Gault was granted permission to film on the property up to 10 days a year - and promised neighbours on the sleepy rural road that there would not be an increase in traffic.