CASTLE ON THE HILL

This artistic enclave on Waiheke Island embodies a Mediterranean sense of warmth and welcome

- Shelley Tustin

Building a home is far from unusual, but building a life from scratch is a far more daunting endeavour. Yet that is exactly what Gabriella and Claude Lewenz did nearly three decades ago, with their small daughter in tow, packing up their life in New York and starting anew in Aotearoa. Driven equally by logic and a sense of providence, they took the leap and had faith that everything would fall into place. Which it did.

Hooked on a feeling 

Determined to look beyond US shores for their perfect home, the couple were always on the lookout, as they travelled the globe, for a place that ticked all their boxes. But while Gabriella and Claude approached their search with almost clinical pragmatism (with a young daughter to consider, too, they had to be practical), in the end, it was something far more ephemeral that drove their decision, an undeniable gut feeling. They had been on holiday in Hawaii and were lured by cheap flights into making a little side trip to Aotearoa.

"The moment both Claude and I landed in Christchurch, something just clicked and we felt something quite magical," says Gabriella. "We couldn't explain it, there was no reason or logic."

A campervan whistle-stop tour of the South Island sealed the deal, seducing them with the country's beauty and less easily defined - a sense of possibility.

"There was a certain vibrancy and potential we felt here." Back in New York, they formed an image of the life they hoped to lead and Claude set off on a solo reconnaissance trip, warning Gabriella that her dream property would likely take years to find. In fact, it took just one ferry ride, from Auckland to Waiheke Island, where Claude found a two-hectare block overlooking Church Bay.