The sum of two pavilions
14 TE WHAU LANE,
SNELLS BEACH
Ewen Thompson and Tara McGibbon felt they could have the best of both worlds with this acre of land they bought near Snells Beach about three years ago.
It seemed the perfect place to build a modern pavilion-style home for their young family in the middle of a natural environment.
“We liked Snells Beach,” says Ewen. “Because trafficwise it was easier to get to than Matakana. We liked getting up on Saturday morning and going from Snells across to the market. We had the best of both worlds.”
“We had all the facilities of Matakana but we lived in a nice quiet place near the beaches,” says Tara.
“It is getting rare to get a lifestyle block near Snells,” says Ewen. “It’s about 4800sq m, so just over an acre of flat land, plus the house and driveway.
“We were really happy to have an acre near town. And close to the primary school.”
For the design, they took inspiration from a home they had seen by John Pawson, an English architect.
“That was in Sweden and we liked the minimalist look,” says Tara. “So we took the idea and made it more of a New Zealand kind of thing in weatherboard.”
They chose Aonui Architecture, a Wellington architecture firm that subscribes to sustainable designs, and local contractors for the 300sq m build in pine weatherboard with some plywood inside for ceilings.
“It is a traditional New Zealand home in terms of the way it was built, but the architecture and style are very different,” says Ewen.
Roofing is Colorsteel in gunmetal grey from the higher-end range for coastal areas.
“When the sky is grey, the roof blends into the sky,” says Tara. “We wanted the house to sit naturally in the environment.”
Their home is a sum of two pavilions. One is the living pod, with a large open-plan, lounge area with kitchen and a separate family room.
“That is where the kids would go to watch TV. And the garage is also in that pavilion,” says Ewen.
The couple wanted this living space to be open and have high ceilings.
“We have light in there pretty much all day long because it is east-, west- and north-facing. It is a beautiful place,” says Tara.
“We intentionally made the spaces large. It is quiet, it has good insulation, we have all-wool carpet, open floorboards and we tried to make everything as natural as we could. It is really warm.”
The couple had their hearts set on a Shaker-style kitchen and sourced one out of an old villa in Cambridge. Tara and Ewen used this in the components of their kitchen and laundry, and Tara painted it.
In the other pavilion are the four bedrooms, bathrooms and another lounge/activities room.
“Tara had it set up to do her painting, being an artist, and our children tended to play over there as well,” says Ewen.
All living areas and bedrooms open through french doors to the deck and outdoors, meaning the kids could run around the house and connect the whole house from their room, says Ewen. “This house was definitely built with the kids in mind.
“The space is enough that you are not tripping over each other and there is always somewhere to hide if you want to do some work or read a book.”
And setting it all off is the location, near a few other lifestyle blocks and the Snells Beach Primary School, with rural and bush views.
“It is situated on a flat piece of grassy land, a minimalist effect all the way round with indoor-outdoor flow,” Tara says.
“The other thing we like is being by a reserve, so you can’t be built out. On one side there are trees going to the mangroves. And on the other side there is a reserve which borders Mahurangi East Rd so it was like living in a park. We had lots of birds . . . herons and swallows, they are beautiful.”
Tara uses the past tense as a business opportunity came up that required them to move to Wellington.
So they bade farewell to their designed home, the Matakana markets, barbecues at the beaches, the nature walks and cycleways, and moved to the capital.