About us

So…you might be wondering who we are (that’s us in the picture!)

We’re Sebastien and Karen. We’re two (late) 30 somethings who got a late start into this whole real estate thing. We haven’t done this before and what we know of buying property and building a house is what we are learning along the way.

Apparently we are a bit hard-headed. Our accountant, lawyer, banker, and others have suggested we buy our first home where we live in Auckland. Or possibly, they said, you should invest in rental property to build up your wealth. To hell with that we thought and decided to do something that spoke to us and inspired us. We wanted to build our own secret hideaway.

So here’s a bit about us.
I’m the red-head in the photo, and yes those are my work jeans. By day I am a web designer. By night I am a web designer and photographer. I didn’t really put much design into this site so don’t hold it against me. I am a kiwi but I grew up in America (mainly in the Texas, Florida, and Georgia) and came back to NZ in 2004 with only two suitcases planning to stay one year. Three years later I hooked up with this crazy French man and I’ve decided to stay (actually I had decided to stay before I met him…that was just the icing on the cake). When I’m not designing or photographing something I am learning cello and of course…French. Ooohh la la !

And the one with little hair, that’s me. I’m a Frenchman that discovered New Zealand at the turn of his 30′s, like a salvation land for the lost Parisian soul. I moved here 7 years ago with all that I could carry as a start. I started a website about my story, which led to guidebooks and eventually an inbound travel agency catering for my fellow countrymen on their way down here. It works well, I’ve got 8 other passionate people working with me. Don’t laugh, the business is called Frogs in New Zealand…easy to remember huh? Up until this point, the most expensive thing I’d ever purchased was my baby grand piano which I faithfully play every day. But the most precious thing around is the ‘babe’, the girl in the picture… Oh, by the way, I’m also a kiwi since December 2007! Yeeeaaaah!

So, we’re two foreign sounding kiwis who are constantly asked how do we like our holiday in New Zealand. :-)