A little bit farmhouse, a tiny touch French, this new build alongside the waters of the Waikato is spectacular inside and out
this spot is supreme. “You could name it the Waikato River or Lake Ohakuri and neither would be wrong,” explains Hayley Tocker who was drawn to live here on the site of a former wakeboard camp by her then-fiancé Marty. Marty bought the land while working in Australia as a fly-in electrician on the mines. His proposal to relocate to this rural block in Reporoa meant Hayley had to give up her job as a graphic designer and retrain. The couple set up their own electrical business and Hayley is one of few women in New Zealand qualified as an instrument technician. That was some time before this modern farmhouse was built beside the water. For three years, the couple occupied a renovated shed on the nine-hectare property. It wasn’t exactly roughing it, but they dreamed of their first real home. With practical nous and definite ideas about design, they considered taking on the entire project themselves: “We ummed and ahhed for ages but realised that with our hectic jobs travelling all over the country, we just didn’t have the time,” says Hayley. F
ABOVE This home settles into the rural landscape like a modern barn and has low-maintenance black Linea Oblique weatherboard cladding and a brick chimney and feature wall to add an industrial feel. The roofing is Colorsteel in a Trimrib profile.
42 — OUR PL ACE
Photography Tony Nyberg
Shed some light
A R I V ER RUNS past it. Or is it a lake? Whatever you call it,
