Luxury Home Hawkes Bay -The history - The journey How did it all begin? Why did you build this place yourself? Why did you leave Switzerland to come to New Zealand? All the questions we got asked by our guests. By Marianne Faes A coastal property, save, close enough to town Contents This First Impression Made Us Fall in Love with this Place and View First Planing SKetch The Journey Started with Building a Hebel House The Owners at Work This First Impression Waimarma Hilltop We lived for three months in Coromandel when we arrived in 2006 in New Zealand. We loved Coromandel, and we still think it has the best beaches and is a great holiday spot but a different lifestyle then Hawkes Bay. When we started to look around our aim was up North, Kerikeri for example. We visited and inspected over 70 properties on the North Island to settle down and build our dream Guesthouse. Once we drove up to the hilltop to this piece of paradise, Marianne said, let's turn back - we can't afford that. And as always she was right, but we bought it anyway. More Made Us Fall in Love with this Place and View Bare Island and Waimarama Beach The view was just incredible. We were sitting there for hours asking ourselves how can we possibly build a place so exposed without ruin the landscape and taking the 360-degree Panorama view into account. First Planing SKetch Bare Island The picture of Marianne says it all. Her typical thinking mode walk. A lot of things have been clear from the start. The houses had to be all the same simple shape so that we can build it ourselves. The only thing we were struggling was the roof shape and how we connect the houses. The Journey Started with Building a Hebel House Lodge Bay Guesthouse It was a family decision. We knew it would be hard. Armando planned three years until it is finished. It took us six years. Hebel gets delivered. Marianne stands next to the underfloor Heating in the Servant Quarter. The Owners at Work It was hands-on for the entire family. We did everything ourselves besides concreting, plumbing and roofing. From the final plastering inside and outside, flooring, tiling and building built in furniture including three kitchens and six bathrooms - everything. It was quite a journey. A challenging learning curve. Looking back - of course, it worked out very well. Would we do it again? Hmm, not so sure.