Gold found amid the hills
This Tai Tapu home has been designed with the scenery in mind, writes Kathleen Kinney.
‘On a clear day, you can see forever . . .’’ according to the Broadway musical; and you could say the same about this Canterbury home.
It’s situated just outside Tai Tapu, on a small rise with spectacular 360-degree views of the Southern Alps, Lake Ellesmere and Mt Herbert.
The result of a successful collaboration between owner-builder Israel Cooper and Christchurch architect Richard Dalman, the house won a 2016 Master Builders Gold award.
Cooper says he built the home for his family, but as his business has expanded into Auckland, it only makes sense to put the home on the market.
‘‘We strongly considered keeping the house, but it would just be a waste of a beautiful home. This house should have a family living in it and enjoying it.’’
Dalman describes the house as being ‘‘divided into three wings, which address separate functions’’.
‘‘The living areas are oriented toward the distant views of the hills, while the sleeping areas look over a more intimate view – down into a valley and a grove of trees,’’ he says.
The third wing holds what Dalman calls ‘‘pragmatic spaces’’, such as the garage and storage. In the space between these wings, a courtyard has been designed with the Canterbury climate in mind. Accessible through sliding doors from the main living spaces, it’s also able to be enclosed and sheltered from prevailing winds.
Cooper comes from a large family, and that played a key role in the design.
‘‘The house needed to work as an entertaining space, and also as a family home,’’ he says.
‘‘There’s a self-contained apartment, which is great for guests. And the way the main public spaces are laid out, you can have a pretty big gathering without feeling like you’re all crowded together.’’
The sense of expansiveness is one of the key qualities of the design.
‘‘We wanted to touch the land very lightly,’’ Dalman says. ‘‘From certain angles, the house really looks as through it’s just perched on the hill.’’
The natural landscape runs right up to the house, although there are consented plans for a cantilevered infinity-edge pool to be added.
Like the rest of the house, the pool would be geo-thermally heated.
‘‘For me, the house has always been about harmony,’’ Cooper says. ‘‘Harmony with the landscape, in that we wanted the house to look like it’s been here forever. Harmony with the environment, through making sustainable and eco-friendly choices. And we designed the house so there’s harmony in daily living, too.’’
Cooper hopes to sell the property for ‘‘something north of $2 million.’’
‘‘You can have a pretty big gathering without feeling like you’re all crowded together.’’ Owner-builder Israel Cooper