Let the light in
Christine and Todd have worked hard to retain the best of their home’s history while rejigging its layout to incorporate a light-filled stairwell to the new master bedroom, dressing room and ensuite. They managed to do so by not deviating from their mantra of “nothing fake and no man-made surfaces”.
Before being ready to start their reno, the couple lived in the bach as it was for two years, with Christine’s son, Henri, bunking down in a sleep-out created from a shack that predates the house. “The house was too small for all of us, especially when Todd’s family [his two daughters, Emma and Molly] were here,” says Christine. “The kitchen was little and we needed to get light into the centre of the house because no one really wanted to be there.”
Architectural designer Jo-Anne Hitchcock was called in to finesse the layout. She moved the front door and added a sunny afternoon deck that has also improved entry into the lounge. Downstairs she rejigged the floor plan to double the size of the kitchen and create a new bathroom, guest bathroom and laundry. At the back of the kitchen, she installed Christine’s newly designed stairwell with open treads and carefully placed windows to let light into both the master bedroom and the kitchen below.
Working with the knowledge that the sun angle varies between 30 degrees in the winter and 77 degrees in the summer, the stairwell was carefully designed for maximum benefit.
“The wider the stairwell, the more sun we got into the kitchen, but that made the master bedroom smaller and it needed to be able to accommodate their existing four-poster bed,” says Jo-Anne. She worked with Christine and Todd to come up with the perfect balance. “We had a brief of what we wanted and she really respected us and listened to us,” says Christine.