- An off-grid home near Taupō, marketed by Sacha Pocock and Penny Lyons, attracts strong buyer interest.
- Hare’s Rest features a self-sufficient setup with a vineyard, truffle farm, and solar power system.
- Owners Alli Smith and Glyn Williams are selling after 20 years to restore a yacht once owned by Errol Flynn.
An off-grid home 15 minutes from Taupō is attracting solid buyer interest, including from Australia, says New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Sacha Pocock, who is marketing the eco-block with colleague Penny Lyons.
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Pocock said whoever bought will hardly ever have to leave because everything was in place for a self-sufficient lifestyle, including a vineyard and a truffle farm.
Called Hare’s Rest, the property has a three-bedroom home designed by Wellington architect Maurice Pipson, a separate self-contained studio unit, and a sleepout.
There’s also a natural reed pool, which Pocock said was deep enough (3.5m) to handle a dive-bomb off the roof. It also has a solar-powered submersible pump to keep the mosquitoes away, so no need for citronella candles.
The main home was designed by Wellington architect Maurice Pipson and built in 2019. Photo / Supplied
The property is fully off-grid and sits on a lush 8.44ha lifestyle block. Photo / Supplied
The property’s state-of-the-art solar power system comprises ground-mounted panels, which collect sunlight that’s fed into the home’s solar battery network, located in a fully insulated room within the carport.
Lithium batteries store up to 22.51 kilowatt-hours of charge, and there’s also a self-starting generator on site. If energy levels get too low, it primes them back to 100% within 40 minutes.
Rainwater is harvested from the roofs, in conjunction with a consented bore; a wood-fired boiler heats radiators; and outside, there are park-like gardens, vegetable beds, a boutique vineyard of around 700 plants, and a truffle farm with spore activity.
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The entrance to the home is via a long driveway, which used to be part of an old bush railway built in the 1930s by the Taupo Totara Timber Company to supply the Mokai mill about 20km away.
Pocock noted that the $1.92m RV was low for all the property had to offer, adding it “blows my mind” every time she visits. She made special mention of the vendors’ planting work, highlighting the more than 3000 trees and over 400 bluebells on the 8.44ha lifestyle block.
Alli Smith, who owns the property with husband Glyn Williams, told OneRoof the couple were selling up because it was time for a new adventure – one with a Hollywood twist.
They bought a wooden yacht once owned by actor Errol Flynn (they have a photo of him behind the wheel).
The reed pool is deep enough for divebombs and is free of mosquitoes. Photo / Supplied
The vendors turned part of the lodge into a B&B. Photo / Supplied
“It was wrecked on the lake, and we used to drive past it every day. It was sort of stuck on a bit of farmland on a road, so we decided it was a good idea to buy it.”
The couple are busy restoring the yacht to its former glory, and while Smith said they didn’t have a firm idea as to where they will be sailing, the voyage will be off-grid.
She said they had owned the property for 20 years, buying it for $340,000 when it was just farmland. They used it as a getaway, spending every other weekend working on it. “We both enjoy being active and just creating things, and one of the reasons why we decided to turn the lodge into a B&B was that we just love to share our little piece of paradise with other people.”
Guests come from countries such as Holland, Belgium and Germany, as well as New Zealand, she said.
Smith was speaking from Waiheke Island, saying the couple had spent the day before with a couple of guests who had been repeat visitors to the Taupō property. “We spent a lovely day with them, so we’ve made some really lovely friends over the years, from all over the world.”
- 1585 Poihipi Road, Oruanui, Taupō, is for sale, tender closing March 23
