Historic colonial Rotorua villa Te Hemo Photo: Mark Amery
Did you ever have a dream house as a child? One you told your parents you wanted to be yours one day? Perhaps, like Tracey Scott's, it even had a turret!
Tracey is one person who got her wish when she grew up.
A prizewinning Rotorua photographer, Scott is a passionate collector of New Zealand colonial furniture, art, artefacts and books. Three years ago, she found the perfect fairytale place for her remarkable collection - Te Hemo, a magnificent two-storey colonial villa she'd coveted since she was a child. Spectacularly, it's right next door to Whakarewarewa geothermal village, with Pōhutu Geyser literally just across the fence.
Protected by a Historic Places Trust classification, the distinctive 1906 villa will be familiar to many visitors to Rotorua from their drive into town. There aren't that many of such villas so prominently around.
25 years ago it was known as the exclusive Landmark restaurant, but today again has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, several living areas, a conservatory and, best of all, a turret. Constructed out of Rimu, with stained glass and pressed ceilings ordered all the way from England, it's been restored beautifully
Today Tracey Scott has a commercial photography business and is a grandmaster of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography with many awards to her name. She's a graduate of the Otago School of Fine Arts, before training in photography. She went on to spend 20 years as a photographer for newspaper the Rotorua Post. But a lifelong passion is restoration and heritage, and it's one that reflects the close contact between Māori and Pākehā in her hometown.
She's also a great bargain hunter - with the knowledge and attention to detail to pick out objects from our colonial history most of us don't recognise. It has led to a remarkable collection.
Culture 101's Mark Amery visited her at home.
