Jeni & Rini Van Driel

“We have built a couple of homes over the years, and we knew what we wanted. Nothing was a problem. The house was very customisable because we are first in. If you buy an existing home, you can’t change things as easily.”

We’ve lived in Matamata since 2019. It got to the stage where we needed to get out of Auckland, and Matamata was very central. It’s not far to travel to visit our kids and grandkids. It’s only two hours away.

We went and had a look at Tamahere Country Club and we both really liked the style of houses, the quality and the amenities in the clubhouse. With Rini having been a building/construction site manager, he’s got a particular eye for quality. Even though we had a really nice home with a bit of a rural outlook, it made sense to look at Matamata Country Club when homes became available there.

Rini had open heart surgery about three years ago. He never had a day sick prior, so you never know what’s around the corner. We thought maybe we should do something about moving into a retirement village now – don’t let our kids decide for us.

We signed up and paid a deposit in late 2023. Trish and Brendon’s valued input made the whole sales process easy. Their ongoing support and excellent communication has been important to us. Everyone we’ve dealt with is so friendly, and even the young chaps on site like the electrician and the builders… they’re just all so good and accommodating.

We’ve chosen a two bedroom villa. It’s a Te Miro design and has a double garage. The floor area is over 200m² which is about the same size as our previous home. Everyone thinks we’re downsizing but we say ‘well, we’re not actually.’

We’ve altered a few things inside. We met with Tracey at A.One Kitchens and we’ve made the scullery slightly bigger. In the garage, one of the cupboards has been changed into a hobby workshop with a bench and shelving unit for Rini to make his models and bits and pieces. And I’ve never used a dryer so in the laundry we’ve changed that space into a tall storage cupboard for brooms and the like.

Tracey also helped us re-design our walk-in-wardrobe. We didn’t want a door on it so we could create extra storage space. They have a recommended colour palette and you can mix and match however you like. We got to choose our cupboard door colours and our benchtop. It’s all good stuff like Caesarstone. I changed the sinks. I’m not a fan of stainless steel so they sourced a granite type sink that I wanted. And I asked for an oil and spice draw too. We’ve made lots of little modifications and nothing’s been a bother at all.

Glen from Quality Curtains was really good to deal with. You can put curtains, blinds or venetians in the windows. You’ve got lots of options and he makes suggestions on the best way to go. Because of the carpet and wall colours we had chosen, we felt we should go with lighter coloured curtains, but I didn’t trust myself. And talking to him, he said ‘no, you’re right’ which was very pleasing. He just made it easier to understand. When you’re not into decor or doing it all the time, it can be overwhelming.

Josh from Kircam Electrical gave us full input into where all the plugs and light switches should go. It was no problem whatsoever. We’ve also added a ranch slider in the kitchen to go outside to a little dining area. We’ve put electrical points out there for a barbecue and heater.

We’re looking forward to an easier way of life. When we want to travel we can just walk away and not worry about security or anything. We’re quite involved in croquet and they’re going to put in a croquet lawn as well.

We will move in February 2025 and will be ‘newbies’ which is going to be interesting. Socially, I think it will be quite a good thing. There’ll be a lot of like-minded people I would think. It will be different for us to have neighbours around but our living area is not street facing. There’s quite a grassy area in front which is why we chose that particular site. It will be planted out with trees, and it’s not looking directly into another place. We should have plenty of privacy, and company when we want it.

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