Ann and John Green's lakeside home at Okere Falls is a popular spot with their family and friends.
"We sort of run a B&B here but it is unpaid," says Ann. "We expand from two to 20 people with our family and it is ideal for guest stays. Younever know how many friends and family you have until you live by the water!"
Originally the 3.8ha property in this little bay off Lake Rotoiti was the Greens' holiday bach.
"This was exactly what we wanted, a place with space. There was a little bach, just two and a half bedrooms, and we used to come up from Wellington with our five sons," says Ann.
"When we bought it in 1994 we put in a tennis court for the boys and we added a boatshed. That has a bedroom, bathroom and a pool room which has beds and divans." Ann recalls how she would drive the five boys from Wellington in her little car with a trailer-load of plants every holidays.
53 Te Akau Road, Okere Falls, Rotorua.
"John did a lot of flying in his job and he flew in for the weekends. Our kids have these wonderful memories of the holidays we spent here, and the garden just grew and grew."
The family would water ski and take their boats and kayaks out on the lake. There are walking and bike tracks. And they were close to Okere Falls Store which is a local icon. Ann says the Okere Falls community is very supportive.
"And it is a safe lake, there are not too many days you cannot go out on Lake Rotoiti," says Ann.
They continued using the property for holidays until John retired in 2002.
"We had sold our family home and we were trying to live in an apartment but it wasn't really a good idea, we weren't ready for it," says Ann. "We decided to pull the bach down in 2003 and build our house, which suited the garden we had been developing. One of the big features of this house is the beautiful garden."
53 Te Akau Road, Okere Falls, Rotorua.
The architect was Kenton Fox; Adrie van Arendonk was the builder and the quality of the build was recognised when the home won the Rotorua house of the year and the regional house of the year.
"When we realised we were going to stay permanently, which was about 2004, our bedroom became the office and living area and we added an extra bedroom at the end."
The main home has big eaves and lots of outdoor areas. Macrocarpa beams, inside and outside, and high sarked ceilings are a big feature of the build, adding warmth to the neutral tones of the interior's decor.
"Because our family are all tall, one of our sons is 6ft 6 (1.98 metres) and two are 6ft 5 (1.95 metres), the doors are all tall and so are the ceilings," says Ann.
The home features open plan living with those gloriously high ceilings. There are plenty of places to sit, inside and out. Some areas are suited more to summer, others near the inside and outside fireplaces are winter favourites.
53 Te Akau Road, Okere Falls, Rotorua.
The kitchen with its laminated wooden benches is next to the living areas, and then there is a den between the living space and the master bedroom with its own bathroom.
This is the part of the house that Ann and John tend to use when it's just the two of them. When family or friends arrive, they stay in the other bedrooms, including one in an attic. And there are more above the boathouse.
In the main home, every room accesses the outside. And the big windows frame beautiful views of the garden and lake.
"It is a very comfortable, relaxed family home," says Ann. "It is easy to live in and it just has a lovely feel about it."
The home is set off beautifully with 1.6ha of gardens including lawn and the trees Ann planted and nurtured over the 23 years she has been coming here.
Now the Greens are selling to move back to Wellington.
53 Te Akau Road, Okere Falls, Rotorua.
"We came from Wellington and we have four of our five children living in Wellington and seven of our grandchildren there; it is drawing us back," says Ann.
"We have the apartment we bought when we sold our family home.
"We weren't ready to live in our apartment then but we are now because we can close the door and do what we like. It is harder to do that here with the garden. We are going back to do something else, another adventure and hopefully lots of travel."
