A place in the sun

Made in the Mediterranean mood, this holiday home on a spectacular site in the Rodney District embraces an outlook across Kiwi bush and coastline. Initially designed as a ‘village’ of three pods, with external staircases between them, the aesthetic was classically beautiful, but the flow was awkward. 

With a major Sumich Chaplin update on the cards, the owners called in their go-to builder: Peter Grant of Timbercraft: “Peter was the foreman on our first renovation,” says one. “Even though he was based in Taupo, he was so implicitly trustworthy and good we never wanted anyone else for the job.” 

The major moves involved the construction of a new double-storey living pod with a main suite to replace the original single-level structure and relocating the pool so that its glittering infinity edge became a cool blue magnet when viewed from the dining zone, leaving more room for outdoor living on the north-west elevation. 

Vertiginous topography made this a herculean job. There was concrete required. Plenty of it. Piers that went 13 metres into the ground anchored the new pavilion to the cliff and the pool foundations were an engineering exemplar. “I stopped counting when we got to 600 cubic metres of concrete,” says Peter. “The logistics of moving the clay and putting all that concrete in the ground was quite a challenge.” 

The house retains its Italianate roots, only made modern, with glazed walkways linking the three pods. Concrete tilt-slab panels with a negative detail blend with the adobe plaster of the original buildings, while terracotta tiles – reused and sourced second-hand – meld the pavilion roof into the scheme.  

Getting the tilt slab into place required some mechanical gymnastics with a 100-tonne crane. “We designed a special cradle for a short truck and trailer to carry the panels up the steep driveway. Once there, the crane lifted the trailer up while the truck turned around,” explains Peter. 

Innovative delivery methods aside, he also got stuck in with smaller jobs hand-laying pebbles on the roof of the dining lantern and using his joiner’s skills to design a set of outdoor furniture in heavy purple-heart timber, so there’s no chance it will blow away in a gale. 

Peter calls this a once-in-a-lifetime project and the owners agree: “Peter is essentially a one-man-band, but he has the knowledge, experience, integrity, intelligence and creativity to make it happen. What more could you ask for really?”

Location: Ti Point | Auckland

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