Jen and Dewi Roberts

Jen Roberts, 63, is the co-owner of the House with No Nails accommodation near Matamata, which her Welsh husband Dewi, 66, built using traditional hand-hewn wooden nails. Dewi works as an animal breeding technician and the couple has four adult children ranging in age from 30 to 36, as well as four grandchildren.

Not long after I graduated from agricultural college in Wales, I saw a film about farming in Australia. There was something about the endless sunshine and farming in shorts that really appealed, so I decided to move to Australia.

DBut while working on a farm in Chester I met a shearer from Masterton who told me New Zealand was better, so in 1974 I spent four weeks on a boat coming out here. I got a job on a farm in Matamata but after five years I wanted to reconnect with my family, so I went back to Wales.

Jenny’s letter came out of the blue, but it was lovely to meet her. I’d missed hearing the Kiwi accent, and we knew the same people, so there was a great sense of familiarity. I’d been single for a long time, but was more interested in a woman’s personality than how she looked. I was after a deeper connection and that’s what I found with Jenny.

I proposed to her on a bridge over the River Dee, next to a 14th Century corn-mill. Every time we go back to Wales, we make a pilgrimage to that bridge.

I wouldn’t say we’re chalk and cheese, but we do have complementary skills. Jenny is the big picture person who has the creative ideas and I help make them happen. She’s incredibly enthusiastic, with the kind of energy that belies her stature. Sometimes I listen to her and think, if only I could do half of what you do.

Because of her creativity, Jenny is always experimenting, moving things around. I’ll come home and say, ‘‘where’s the teapot’’, or ‘‘where’s this and that?’’. It’s like a quiz and I have to hunt around to find things. Jenny has an eye for detail and likes making things pretty, which isn’t always practical! I’m definitely the pragmatic one in the relationship.

But she’s so dynamic and full of life, I can’t be irritated for long. Jenny is a real people person and everyone loves her. The way she makes guests feel welcome is a special skill.

We share the same common values – we’re both conservative, family-oriented and church-oriented. Even though we were raised on opposite sides of the world, we have similar upbringings. We grew up on farms and understand what it’s like to work from dawn to dusk.

Jenny is also very loyal. Every marriage has its times of woe and go, but Jenny has always stuck with the dream. Building a house yourself, especially the way we did it and with four young kids, wasn’t easy, but she was very patient.

She really is my soulmate and I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

I grew up in the Waikato, one of six children with a typical Kiwi farm upbringing. I trained as a nurse but was always eager to see the world so when I was 24 I headed to the UK for my OE.

JI’d known of Dewi as he’d moved to Matamata when he was 20. But he’d since gone back to Wales and because this was before email, I wrote to him before I went over. He wrote a lovely letter back saying please come and visit his family farm in North Wales. So I did and ended up spending a few weeks there.

I said to Dewi, I’d love to see Wales and there were parts he hadn’t seen, so we jumped in the car and had a great time exploring the country. We realised we were really fond of each other, and it went from there.

I’d had lots of boyfriends, but wanted to find the right person. I was ready to settle down and when I met Dewi I knew he was the one I wanted to live my life with. Physically, he was my type – tall, dark and handsome.

He’s also a man of the land, funny and clever. He’s very proper too, so he wrote to my father asking for my hand in marriage. My father said, I’ve never met you but if Jenny thinks you’re okay then it’s fine!

We both love to travel and after our kids left home, we moved back to the UK for 10 years. Dewi was based in Wales with his job while my nursing job took me all over the place looking after wealthy people such as Sir Stirling Moss. I’d live with them during the week and meet up with Dewi at weekends.

We came home when our kids told us to stop being gypsies, and now we open our home to guests and events such as candlelit dinners and music gigs. Dewi is very practical and built our house the traditional way, teaching himself from a book. He’s now in charge of maintenance while I do all the bookings and cooking.

I’m the creative one, so he often pulls me back whereas I push him into trying new things. It’s a good balance.

We’ve been married 37 years and our commitment to each other is why we operate so well. As you get older, you appreciate the person who has stuck by you for so long. That’s hard to find these days. I always tell my kids, if you find a special person hold onto them, respect them and find the value in the relationship because that’s one of the most important things in life.