The couple purchased 13 hectares of paddocks near where they were living in Portobello on the Otago Peninsula in 1992 to build their second home.
They drew their inspiration for the build from an American book with house plans that could be bought online. The original design had two low turrets on either end of what they described as being a relatively conventional home.
But when Greg stumbled across two large and unique wooden doors reclaimed from a Catholic Church in Otago at a demolition yard, they realised they would have to rework their plans to accommodate them.
Suddenly the low Victorian-style turrets didn’t look quite right, so they made a couple of adjustments. The turrets became towers and they replaced the slanted roof with a flat roof.
“As we weren’t the first castle on the peninsula, we thought why not just make some changes and be different from a subdivision house,” Greg said.
Denise joked it was her husband’s plan to build a castle all along and he just got her to agree with it by slowly making the changes stage by stage.
“It’s so funny because you go to insert the key and people are like, ‘hang on, that’s upside down’. It wasn’t us who did it, it was the original guys who had obviously had a few too many beers,” Denise said.
While it had always been in their plans to add battlements, they didn’t appear until 10 years after the rest of the house was completed.
Greg said that was partly due to cost and the fact that 22,500 bricks had already been used to build the house - almost four times more than what is used in an average house.
“It just looked like a big brick house unless you got up close and then you realised the tower was actually bigger. But once we put the battlements on, it became very obvious that it was a castle.”
The eventual battlements were made from plaster and still came as a surprise to many locals who drove down their secluded driveway for the first time only to discover that nearby Larnach Castle was not the only one on the peninsula.
The matai floors in the hallway were from an old gym floor in Gore, while one of the large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling was from the Hermitage Hotel in Mt Cook after it had a refit. The other statement light fitting was a converted belt pulley from a steam engine that has four lights resembling burning torches attached to it.
Even the bright purple paint work in the large hallway is on theme with the couple boldly choosing to stay away from white walls and opting for the aptly named windsor purple.
And while Denise originally held Greg and his spontaneous purchase of the doors responsible for the fact that they lived in a castle, she admitted it had been a lot of fun and a great place to live.
“It’s quite nice being quirky to be honest. People are always making jokes about the king and the queen.”
Over the years, they have also accumulated castle-themed gifts ranging from a crown-shaped light, swords and even a knight.
Their nieces and nephews loved staying at the castle and children who visited with their parents were always eager to explore.
But despite its uniqueness, they said it was an amazing house to live in and would suit both families and retired farmers. There’s also plenty of paddock areas to graze some sheep or horses.
“It’s very peaceful out here. You walk out onto the deck with a cup of coffee and enjoy the view, you can see all the way down to the albatross colony down at Taiaroa Head, and you can have a look across the harbour at Port Chalmers and the cruise ships coming in,” Greg said.
Most of the land is planted with pine trees, macrocarpa and gum trees that have created a secluded haven for the wood pigeons but, Denise said, could also be a drawcard for a new owner who may want to utilise them for the timber or firewood.
The Powells said they would miss being the king and queen of their own castle, but have bought a smaller lifestyle section, also on the peninsula, to build their new home.
However, they had yet to settle on what their new house would look like.
“Can we just build an ordinary house? I’m not sure we can – people expect more from us,” Denise added.
Listing agent Craig Bates, of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, said not many people knew there was a second castle on the peninsula because it was hidden by the trees.
“If you want a castle – there’s only two on the Otago Peninsula and one of them is Larnach Castle, which is the historic castle, and the other one is this one, which no one knows about.”
“It doesn’t have to be a castle. You can take all the facade around the top of it and you could reduce it back to a house pretty easily.
“It’s only made to look like a castle – it’s not a real castle really ... They’ve only got a couple of rooms really with the entrance way which is medieval – the rest of it is just a normal house.”
The property at 785 Portobello Road, which has an RV of $1.6 million, is being sold by deadline private treaty. The only price indication Bates could give was that it would be well north of the RV.
- By Nikki Preston, OneRoof
