My favourite artwork: Wainui falls image inspires

Timo Neubauer has worked as an architect and urban designer in Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Auckland and Christchurch. Despite all the opportunities that are out there for someone with his skills and qualifications, he is proud to call Tasman home. He talked to Matt Lawrey about how he ended up here and why a certain photograph means so much to him.

Timo Neubauer’s favourite artwork is a classic image of a beautiful spot in a country he fell in love with in his twenties.
The artwork is a photo by Nelson-based landscape photographer Dwayne Lohmann, the location is Wainui Falls in Golden Bay and the country, not surprisingly, is New Zealand.

There’s something about the untouched, verdant scene that really chimes with the German-born urban designer and lodge owner.

“It’s such a classic shot of a pristine bush environment. It’s that lush nature that you actually cannot find in many places in the world,” Timo says.

Looking at the image makes Timo feel both a sense of calm and inspiration to get out into nature.

“It makes me want to explore every nook and cranny of our region,” he laughs.

The image is one of many photographs by Lohmann that decorate The Pear Orchard Lodge. Owned and run by Timo and his wife Olivia, the lodge with room for 20 guests sits next to the Neubauers’ family home, a renovated 100-year-old farmhouse on 5.5 hectares in Hope overlooking the Waimea Plains.

Timo designed and then helped to build the two-storey lodge ten years ago, and the couple were keen to fill it with images that showed off the beauty of the region to their guests.

The Wainui Falls image graces the wall at the top of the lodge’s internal staircase.

“People do ask where it is and they do want to visit it.”

Timo’s love affair with New Zealand started when, as a student at the University of Hannover, he and a friend convinced an architect in Te Puke to take them on for a year as interns.

During that time he did a lot of backpacking, including a visit to Nelson and Tasman, and fell for both the country and its people.

Initially, however, Timo didn’t realise just how deeply connected he had become.

“I was so indoctrinated by architecture and urban design, I felt like I was missing the history and compactness of European settlements,” he said.

By the end of his year here, Timo was really looking forward to getting back to Germany. Once he got there, though, he noticed that something had changed.

“I wanted to take some of the friendliness and positivity that I had experienced here to Germany; the way people talk to each other at the bus stop – that’s unheard of in Germany,” he said.

“After three months of trying to talk to people at places like the supermarket checkout and having people think I was a weirdo, I caught myself looking at the footpath, with the corners of my mouth drooping and I thought, ‘I don’t need this. I can live differently’.”

The result? Timo started working on immigrating to New Zealand.

After completing his master’s degree, he spent a couple of years working in Hamburg before moving to Christchurch.

After two years at an architecture firm, Timo landed a job with a cutting edge company in Auckland and moved north.

It was during this time that he came to the conclusion that, rather than architecture, what he really wanted to focus on was urban design.

He launched his own company and started working on projects around Auckland. Not long after, he and Olivia, a lawyer, met when they were seated next to each other on a plane from Christchurch to Auckland. One year later, on a flight taking the same route, Timo proposed. The flight attendant and the pilot were in on it, with champagne and an announcement from the cockpit at the ready, and fortunately for Timo, Olivia said “yes”.

What followed were stints working and living in London, Abu Dhabi and back in Germany before the couple decided to come home to raise their kids. Timo scored a job in Auckland and the young family settled in Titirangi.

It was during this time that Timo and Olivia first dipped their toes in the accommodation game by renting out a room in their home on Airbnb.

“I found the interactions with my guests were so positive, especially compared to my professional life. I found dealing with people on holiday, who were thankful for local tips, really uplifting, and I started thinking, ‘how can I make this a bigger part of my life?’”

From that point on, Timo and Olivia started figuring out how and where they could do it, which led them to Nelson and the building of The Pear Orchard Lodge.

A decade later, Timo remains deeply involved in advocating for better urban design as a founding member of the group NelsonTasman2050 and continues to get a huge buzz out of hosting guests from across the country and around the world.

“The beauty of this business is that you can be in the most beautiful part of the country and you can still make a living. In fact, people come to stay with you precisely because you’re living in the most beautiful part of the country.”