Lake Tarawera: Not the retiring kind

213-215 Spencer Road, Lake Tarawera.

This lakeside retreat combines environmental sensitivity with state of the art electronics. By Graham Hepburn.

In 1999 English couple Janet and Chris Watmore came to New Zealand for a holiday in Rotorua, fell in love with the place and decided to retire there."We came over here for a holiday and never went home, says Janet. "But we retired for all of about five months."

The couple, who own a successful British turf company, just couldn't stifle their entrepreneurial spirit and began developing Spencer and Waitangi lodges on Lake Tarawera. And now Chris, with his company Kiwi Bach Developments, has moved into spec building - but only quality homes on prime sites. And this is where the just-completed home at 213-215 Spencer Road comes in.

The Watmores bought the double section next to a bush reserve because "it's one of the best sites on Lake Tarawera with stunning views and gets all day sun."

They decided to build a five-level home that hugged the contours of the land and landscaped it with natives, including the space beside a boardwalk down to the refurbished jetty and boat shed.

"We wanted to build a beautiful house but not have it shouting at the lake," says Janet. "We excavated the site quite deep because we didn't want a big, ugly thing to block the skyline."

The home, built using red cedar and river stones, has a garage on one level then four levels of living.

The lower level is self-contained guest accommodation with two bedrooms, a family room, kitchen and bathroom, plus its own deck. The lower mezzanine level has a home theatre that opens out to a deck around the 8.4m x 3.2m heated pool. This also features river stones and sits proudly overlooking the lake.

"It's built so that there's a weir at the end and it's like an infinity pool with water jets that you can swim against," says Janet. "The illusion is that you're swimming in the lake except you're in nice warm water."

The ground floor, which has a grand entrance hall, contains the main living areas and the kitchen, and connects with the double garage.

"It's got a lot of windows all the way around. They're tinted as well as double-glazed so it's very comfortable to be in. And every room has a million-dollar view," says Janet.

A centrepiece of the lounge is the river stone fireplace with a large woodburner. This complements the underfloor heating throughout the concrete-floored house.

Upstairs are the two main bedrooms, each with an en suite and walk-in wardrobes, as well as an office and attic storeroom.

The whole house is run by a touch-screen home automation system that can be accessed by phone no matter where you are in the world. It also has security cameras that monitor such areas as the jetty, pool and the automatic gates on the driveway.

"It's very handy because you can be in the kitchen and still keep an eye on the kids in the pool," says Janet.

And the Watmores have been careful about the home's environmental impact. Treated water from the septic tank is used to irrigate the native plantings that have biodegradable weed matting.

As Janet says, "We've used the best of everything, and my husband's such a perfectionist as well."

So pleased are they with what they've achieved that the Watmores, who also breed highland cattle, will be keeping an eye out for more development projects in their so-called retirement.

Janet laughs, "Since we've retired I've never worked so hard in my life."

Vital Statistics:

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 3

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 2580sq m, house 387sq m.

PRICE: $4.5 million.

INSPECT: By appointment.

CONTACT: Hamish Macdonald, Bayleys, ph 09 309 6020 bus, 0274 959 902 mob, or Lorraine Chapman, Bayleys Rotorua, 07 349 3210 bus, 027 271 9141 mob.

FEATURES: International standard lodge-style home in prime lakeside position with views across Lake Tarawera. Heated pool, integrated home automation and security systems, underfloor heating. Landscaped grounds leading down to private jetty and boatshed.