A sleek and dark award-winning home inspires a shift to the coast.
Falling in love with a sleek, dark, award-winning home inspired a shift from city to coast
The angular black house stretches long and low across the crest of a Raglan hill. Towering behind is a stand of mature eucalyptus trees and in front are panoramic views of Whāingaroa Harbour and its mighty white-topped bar. To the west is the ancient volcano Mt Karioi. It’s a lot to take in: quintessential Raglan mixed with touches of Australia.
Auckland couple Anna and Craig Fisher first saw all of this last year when the black house was for sale. They came to an open home and they were “just looking, thank you” because they already had a much-loved bach in the west coast town.
But they were captured by this bold metal-clad home, which had been designed for a Raglan family by Kris Wilson of Hamilton firm Design House Architecture 18 months before, and it was looking for new owners. The house won three awards at the Waikato Regional ADNZ Architectural Design Awards last year, and Kris calls it the Eucalypt-haus.
Says Anna: “It instantly appealed. We loved the light-filled rooms, the natural warmth, clean lines, and the art gallery feel of it.”
Craig particularly fell for the magnificent master bedroom suite in the west wing, which gives the impression of being cantilevered over the slope of the hill, almost floating in space. “I’d always liked the notion of being in a cantilevered box, and the bedroom felt like that.”
He and Anna also admired how the vast, multi-paned window in the living area magically framed views of the harbour and bar. Nowadays, they know that the window – reminiscent of a London
loft – also frames the moon at night so once they bought the house they called it Rākaunui, the full moon.
Craig describes himself as a late-onset surfer. Anna got into it too, and they were drawn to Raglan 13 years ago for the fine waves, the fishing, paddleboarding, mountain biking and the relaxed nature of the town. Craig’s an accountant and consultant, Anna is a Japanese interpreter and guide. Auckland city was home; Raglan was for family holidays.
The new purchase was an irrational decision: “I’m supposed to be a very sensible accountant,” says Craig, “but we love this place.”
They quickly made it their primary home, rearranging their work commitments around their Raglan relocation. Their two sons, both at university, have remained in Auckland. Craig jokes that he and Anna left home because their sons wouldn’t.
The hub of their new house comprises a sleek kitchen and two north-facing living areas. One of these is a retro 1970s-style sunken lounge with built-in seating and a woodburner stove. It opens to a sunny deck.
There is a dramatic black-tiled bathroom, a guest bedroom, and downstairs, cleverly tucked under the cantilevered main bedroom, are two more bedrooms. There is also a self-contained annex off the breezeway at the front entrance for extra family and friends.
Both Ann and Craig have favourite parts of the house. For Anna, it’s the master bedroom and how it looks west to the Mt
Karioi and the night sky. For Craig: “I am loving our library area with the superb floor-to-ceiling bookshelves – you can never have too many bookshelves – and ladder made by my very skilled brother-in-law Steve Denford. His work is art.”
The flooring is largely mellow Fijian kauri and the furniture is a mix of pieces from their previous Raglan bach and some new acquisitions. A set of Hans Wegner chairs complements a sturdy table that was a gift from Craig’s mother.
Their colourful art achieves the gallery-like effect that Anna envisaged. Some of the works are by her artist mother, Irene Denford, now based in Nelson. Among these is a painting of Anna as a teenager, in the water at Opito Bay, Coromandel.
Outdoors is nature’s gallery of seascapes, trees, mountains and big skies. The marvellous, moody eucalyptus plantation is the backdrop to everything. The trees rustle gently in the breeze, sway alarmingly in storms, stand still on sunny days, and are viewed through many of the windows in the house.
Other plantings by earlier owners on the 3.8ha site include Tasmanian blackwood, swamp cypress and an abundance of macadamia trees. Craig and Anna say the macadamias were incidental to their purchase of the house. On closer inspection, they found they owned about 200 trees, all overgrown by blackberries, inkweed and ginger. They’ve restored the orchards and are now harvesting a decent crop of nuts. Everyone asks
‘WE LOVED THE LIGHT-FILLED ROOMS, THE NATURAL WARMTH AND CLEAN LINES’
what they’re going to do with them: “We’re still figuring that out,” says Craig. At the end of the day you’ll find him walking through the orchards, checking the trees, rat traps, birds and recent plantings – or if the waves are good, out at Manu Bay sneaking a sunset surf.
Their next project is landscaping the grounds. This will include extensive native planting and Anna also envisages a Japanese grove of cherry trees and camellias, in honour of the country where she has lived and studied.
Craig and Anna say the best times in their new home are Sunday nights, when they don’t have to leave, and Monday mornings, when the week begins in Raglan. “This is where we want to be.”