1085 Leigh Road, Matakana. Photo / Supplied
As Matakana has grown and become a boutique destination, Jan Tipling has enjoyed the improved amenities but still values the peace and privacy of her property.
At almost 12ha, the land that her husband Grant bought about 20 years ago sits in a quiet location beside the Omaha River.
"I've lived in Matakana for 35 years and it is a fantastic place to live and has become very desirable," says Jan. "Where we are, we are in our own little bubble of serenity but we're only three minutes from Matakana and five minutes from Omaha."
She says: "Our place was just a paddock in the beginning but Grant had the foresight to buy it."
In 2003 they started building their distinctive, architecturally designed home with macrocarpa milled from the family farm and stone hand-picked at Whangamata. Old power poles from Taranaki have been used as beams, and the eucalyptus flooring was sourced locally.
Jan says of the home's materials and styling: "Basically our house should be in Queenstown. Grant really wanted something that looked like a hunting lodge."
He worked as a labourer for builder Peter Wyatt, beginning with the construction of the stone walls.
"It's a beautiful home; we've loved living here," says Jan. "Peter did a fantastic job; he's a master craftsman."
A centrepiece of the home is the towering stone chimney with an open fire to warm the main living area, which has soaring timber-sarked ceilings with exposed trusses.
Jan says they wanted the home to be open plan for entertaining, and to be big enough to accommodate guests or extended family.
"It's also been designed to bring winter sun in and keep summer sun out."
The stonework and polished concrete floors soak up the warmth in winter, meaning the underfloor heating rarely has to be used.
Occupying a corner of the double-height main living space, the kitchen has marble benchtops and twin ovens.
Upstairs, the bedrooms have saligna flooring and sarked ceilings, giving the rooms warm tones.
Outside, the large concrete patios give way to a sweep of lawn.
"It's great for entertaining; you can take the table outside and have a big party and bring it inside if it rains," says Jan. "We've catered for weddings here when friends of ours have got married. Grant and I got married here in 2006."
Jan says the property has been planted with subtropicals and natives, aimed at attracting birds.
The lawn continues down to the river, where there is a jetty.
"You could bring a small boat up here at high tide. We get a lot of paddle boards and kayaks coming up the river," says Jan.
"We have a friend who comes up sometimes on his boat and delivers snapper after he's been out fishing."
Most of the property around the new home has been divided up into paddocks.
"It's always been a farm; we've had cattle on it and done sheep farming," she says.
"There's a guy around the corner who will run sheep on the property for you so that's an option because the yards are all there."
There's also a separate (unconsented) three-bedroom 1930s bungalow on the property, that Jan describes as a "little bit tired".
To house their boat and farm machinery, the couple built a big, red, corrugated iron barn in the American gothic style.