Lake Tarawera

Gill and Stew Moss give Grand Designs NZ presenter Tom Webster a tour of their newly completed holiday home at Lake Tarawera. REVIEW: You just know a couple are ...

While the theme tune is great, the background music during the bulk of the show is too “orchestral” – it’s like being at the ballet. There’s not a lot of evidence of bling in the living area, and it wouldn’t have worked there. Let’s hope they get to retire here soon, because there seemed to be a big question mark about the timing of that And with the garage essentially underground, it has a long, low profile. This is one stunning location – the shots of Webster driving the Jaguar I-Pace EV400 to the house highlight this. And sure enough the country is plunged into lockdown with Covid-19, so work stops, and there’s a knock-on effect with material shortages. This project is an impressive addition to his CV – and he even becomes a dad during the build. We get to meet architect Jeremy Brick, who tells us the plan is a “slow reveal” – a gradual unfolding of the view as you move through the house. There’s video of Stew standing at the edge of the excavation, and he is completely dwarfed – you wouldn’t want to fall down there. Webster is sceptical, because the mountain spewed out a tremendous amount of volcanic rock and ash, and they are planning a huge excavation that could be problematic. They are absolutely immense, and yes, volcanic rock and boulders (“the size of houses” we are told) are everywhere. And the builders are travelling in from Tauranga each day, which is hardly ideal.