Editorial: We watch as dreams take shape

As a closet enthusiast of the long-running British TV show Grand Designs, it was with some pleasure I trawled through the photos from the weekend's East Coast Region Registered Master Builders 2013 House of the Year competition.

It's the details of the finished product, both the bold and the conservative, that I enjoy scrutinising. The morning and afternoon sun decks, the outdoor baths, the sustainability and the "integration" with surrounding landscapes.

While my home doesn't contain such lavish characteristics, I do not watch in search of inspiration. My attraction to the show is more complex than a simple consumer's desire to live in luxury.

I watch the show in wonder, rather than pleasure, as a future homeowner develops a spectacular creation from an old water tower. Why? With practicalities cast aside, it's because it is their "dream home".

But this is no condemnation - I think such logic is commendable. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if it's within your means, why not pursue it?

The other end of the spectrum was documented on TV3 a few weeks ago.

With equal fascination, I watched Inside New Zealand: Wildman as the cameras followed Robert Long and his family. Decades of their lives had been spent living on the fringes of society in South Westland. His home, an old Forest Service hut, was two days' walk from civilisation. Stuck amongst the harsh and inhospitable terrain, you could say it was his water tower.

And as I scan through pictures of the homes in the House of the Year competition, I simply hope the owners of those featured have found theirs.