In case you thought you might be reading the wrong magazine, this couple’s home really is their castle. A big one – five bedrooms, four bathrooms and the obligatory dungeon, tunnel, turrets and crenulations, not to mention a lake-size moat. Quite the project for a building firm and in all likelihood, a once-in-a-lifetime one. The whopping 1250sqm Ōamaru landmark came with its fair share of challenges and required communication, patience and thinking outside the square from everyone involved. It’s not like ATM Builders could go down to the local store and buy castle fittings and fixtures – in many cases, they had to make them themselves. The firm dug the moat and used stones in the build. The walls, clad in custom Ōamaru bolstered stone, are almost half a metre thick and sit on huge concrete footings. More than 20,000 blocks were used, so Riverstone Castle, split over three levels, is built to last – and, in case of trouble, to withstand attack. Underfloor heating comes from moat water passing through heat pumps and a furnace that warms the pipes. Some of the internal beams are made from century-old macrocarpa from the owners’ farm.