Jude and Grant Smith were so proud of their new home they offered it to builder Turnkey Homes as a show home, and were thrilled when the house won a gold award in that year’s Master Builder awards in 2012.

Now history has repeated itself: Jude and Grant’s new home in Heritage Park, also with Turnkey, has won a gold award in last weekend’s Master Builder awards - and yes, it is also a Turnkey show home.

A little like the old jingle ‘I loved the product so much I bought the company’, Jude loved the experience of building with the Wanaka company so much she encouraged Turnkey to use her business (Eventful Marketing) to manage the company’s sales.

But living in two successive showhomes for five years is another level of devotion.

A remarkable view of Mount Iron from the Smiths’ sunroom.

“We always have to have a tidy house,” Jude said. “It’s a significant commitment.”

Jude show prospective clients through the house most weekends and often has six to eight people visiting during show home opening hours.

She said some people think it’s strange that theirs is “very much a lived home” (albeit a scrupulously tidy one), but that’s a point of difference, she said.

Jude has seen some unusual things, such as people sitting on the toilets to try them out for height, a woman lying full length in the bath, and even people opening drawers and looking through.

The home’s spacious kitchen and dining area.

But she said “we’re not living in a goldfish bowl”, because she is in control of when people visit - the house is ‘open’ at certain times and then people must make an appointment.

Jude is proud of her home, and the Master Builder judges seem to agree as they awarded it gold in the GIB Show Home category, describing the home as “simple, unpretentious elegance at its best”.

The 292sqm alpine-style house is clad in natural products, including bagged schist. It features a large entrance foyer, spacious living area, sunroom, dining area, a sleek kitchen, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The upper level has two bedrooms and a bathroom which can be closed off to create a self-contained space for a couple to live. There are three courtyards to provide sheltered and shaded outdoor living, and expansive views of the mountains.

Jude says she would definitely do it again. 

“Yes, I’d like a third one. I just want to share our experience, and I’d like others to have the experience and result we had.”

PHOTO: Supplied