After 30 years of planning and three years of building, Dot Smith's castle north of Oamaru is nearing completion. North Otago reporter Shannon Gillies caught up with Mrs Smith for a look inside a dream.
Little touches of glamour and grandeur lace the hallways of Dot Smith's personal castle.
They can be seen in the gold tiling grout in the main entrance, the wooden front doors, the central stained glass window carrying the family crest, and the moat.
"It's my taste,'' says Dot Smith, the force behind the castle which has been fascinating the thousands of visitors to the Riverstone complex since construction began in August 2013.
"It's not grand, but it's all the things I love.
"It's a little bit of glamour. It's a dream. It's putting all your dreams together and creating something you want to live in.''
And Dot and husband Neil Smith's decades-old dream is on the home straight.
Eighty percent complete, the 1150sq m two-storey, six-tower castle may even be finished by the end of this year.
Inside, tiles are being laid, wallpaper has gone up and fireplaces are being installed.
The movie screen and the oak panelling are yet to go up in the library.
The dungeon is done and the partially built moat is already home to trout and ducks.
Proud and excited about her new home, Mrs Smith acknowledged it had taken an extraordinarily long time to build a new house, but that was down to how bespoke the castle and its special fittings, such as the front doors and stained glass window, were.
The building's main influences were castles and palaces in Europe.
The wallpaper is from China and Mexican influences are also evident in the decor.
Expeditions to source helmets to add to the building's decor are under way.
"So hopefully we will be running around the castle and being silly.''
She just loved beautiful things, Mrs Smith said.
"Life is too short to just have ordinary things. I like to see my money in front of me doing things. If you have a chance in your life to do something, you should.
"Too many people say ‘I'll get a new car this year' and before you know it they've got no money, whereas mine has been building up so I could use it
"We're so lucky . . . in New Zealand and are able to follow your dreams.''
The castle was designed by Wanaka architect Sarah Scott.
The building project had no deadline and no project manager, but the construction crew all worked together well, she said.
The Smiths had tried to use only local trades people, and had been mostly successful.
The castle was designed to be a home they would share with their family, and possibly open up to others.
She believed it was one of the first modern castles in New Zealand built to take the "positives'' of castle design without being too pedantic about it, but had included a complicated water-based heating system to ensure it was cosy inside.
"Everything is [also] insulated to death.''
Asked if she was happy with how the project had gone so far, she said it had been a big learning curve, but she "will be happy with it''.
"It's very much a personal castle.''
Once the building was finished, work on the surrounding grounds would start, with a focus on native planting.
