New Zealand Family Builds Dream Home for Mom with Parkinson's

Every day, Andries Van der Westhuizen drove hours to a Dunedin rehab facility to see his wife Yzette, who was recovering from a serious infection while managing Parkinson's disease. "If it wasn't for Andries coming every day, I would have sat in a corner and cried," Yzette said, calling his footsteps down the corridor the highlight of her day.

That devotion sparked something extraordinary. The Van der Westhuizen family decided to build a home where everyone could stay together while giving Yzette the specialized care she needed.

The family emigrated from South Africa in the late 1990s and bought 40 hectares of overgrazed land in Bendigo, Central Otago in 2017. They removed 7,000 tonnes of rock and planted Moko Hills Vineyard, eventually bringing their son Donald on as winemaker.

When daughter Delint and her husband Sam moved down from Auckland with their two children, the vision became clear. They would build one home for three generations, designed around Yzette's needs.

The 330-square-meter house features two family wings connected by a large central courtyard and shared kitchen. Every detail considered Yzette's accessibility, from wheelchair-friendly doorways to thoughtfully positioned spaces that keep the family visually connected throughout the day.

Yzette, a former project manager, led the planning herself. "It's important for me for the family to stay together," Andries explained. "To see their grandchildren growing up, I think is any grandparent's dream."

Despite freezing Central Otago weather, builder Ben Broughton kept the project moving quickly. The family sold their Warrington home to fund the build, and Andries found temporary rental accommodation until completion.

Why This Inspires

This story captures something rare in modern life: a family choosing togetherness over convenience. Building a multigenerational home requires compromise, patience, and commitment to something bigger than individual comfort.

Yzette acknowledged the challenges ahead. "I sometimes see the old bull and the young bull coming together, bumping their heads, but we all need to give each other a bit of slack." Even Donald, who lives separately on the vineyard estate, embraced the change with humor about having "two locked gates" as a buffer.

When Yzette finally moved in, she called it her "happy place." After months in rehab, being surrounded by family reminded her how much she had to live for.

The black steel-clad home nestles quietly into the vineyard landscape, unassuming from the outside. But inside, it represents something grand: a family refusing to let distance or disease break their bonds.