One of Hamilton's most distinctive homes has hit the market, with the owners prepared to consider offers well below its $3.29 million RV.
The six-bedroom property sits on an 8503sqm lakeside section overlooking Lake Rotokauri and has become a local landmark thanks to its bold colour palette.
Owners Annabel Cotton and Mike Corkill told OneRoof they never intended to build an orange-and-green home, only discovering the colour scheme when they saw the final plans.
Architect Geoff Lentz, of Antanas Procuta Architects (now PAUA), incorporated the vibrant panels after drawing inspiration from the surrounding flax, whose green foliage is punctuated by striking orange flowers. He expected a future owner would eventually tone down the colours, but they have remained a defining feature of the property.
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“When he [Lentz] came up with the sketches, he said: ‘You don’t need to build it like that’,” Cotton said. “And we said, ‘We’ve had a red and green house in Wellington, so orange and green is fine’. He was really surprised.”
The large living room was designed to host parties and large sit-down dinners. Photo / Supplied
The oversized master bedroom has the best view of the lake. Photo / Supplied
The house and the colour scheme initially baffled the neighbours.
“When the house was being built, the neighbours were a bit confused as to what was going on. There were some rumours it was a couple from Auckland and then somebody else thought it was a private hotel”
The rumours were half-true. Cotton and Corkill had been living in Auckland with their two young children and had decided to quit the city for a life in the country. They had considered various parts of the country, including Hawke’s Bay, before choosing Cotton’s hometown of Hamilton.
“We were living in St Heliers, and we didn’t want to have Auckland kids who needed to be driven everywhere. We just wanted to come and live in the country and found this section,” Cotton told OneRoof.
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Cotton is well-known in the corporate world and has been a director of various organisations, including Waikato Regional Airport, the Securities Commission and Genesis Energy, and Corkill is a rheumatologist. They were still commuting to Auckland for work at the time, so Hamilton northern fringe made sense.
“Our kids were really sporty, and we wanted a big front lawn.”
They bought the section in 2003, near Cotton's family dairy farm, and spent the next three years designing their dream home.
They had a clear brief: a large central living space, generous bedrooms and as few hallways as possible. "We wanted some of the windows to be at sitting height so you could sit at the desk and look out. I didn’t want people to look at the house, and it be obvious which room was what.”
Lentz delivered.
The home's bold orange-and-green exterior set the tone for the interiors, which feature playful bursts of colour throughout, from a blue-and-purple kitchen to green carpet in the bedrooms.
The hallway was cleverly extended to create a playroom next to their children's bedrooms. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve just gone down the path of having furniture and artwork and curtains we like as opposed to what actually goes together,” Cotton said.
The sprawling living area became the heart of the home, hosting countless parties and family gatherings over the years. Even the furnishings were designed with entertaining in mind: the leather couches sat on wheels and could be rolled through the wide doorways to make way for the large dining table.
The oversized curtains were carefully chosen to evoke the atmosphere of a medieval banquet hall, with Cotton adding fabric panels featuring Roman heads and African feather necklaces to complete the look.
The couple said they would miss everything about the property, from its space and setting to its one-of-a-kind design.
“We know it’s our house,” Corkill said of the eye-catching design.
Now, with their children grown and gone, they have decided to downsize and are building a smaller home nearby. While they have opted for cream-coloured walls this time, Cotton admits colour has still found its way into the design.
“We’ve still gone off the planet in some of the colours.”
Lodge agent Megan Smith said 66 Dromara Drive was one of her absolute favourite properties and in her listing describes it as "an extraordinary place to call home".
“It’s a truly unique architectural offering. We always see that word architectural bandied about, but we don’t often get true examples of it. This really is special, from the oversized ceilings to the layout of the fireplace surrounds, and then you’ve got extensive lake views from all aspects of the house and the in-ground swimming pool. I’m not sure what else you’d want in a home.”
Smith said interest so far had been from families living nearby and looking to upsize. It also captured the attention of people living overseas.
“Expats are going, 'That’s phenomenal and different, and we would like to come back here.' I think if you’ve got a bit of flair and a real joy for living and art and books, that is an incredible house.”
Smith said the couple were inviting interest north of $2.5m, below the RV of $3.29m.
- 66 Dromara Drive, Rotokauri, Waikato, is for sale, tender closing November 18
