PUT CORK IN IT
The eco vibe is strong in this low-maintenance dual bach property that can pay the rates, writes Catherine Smith
Ten years is a long time to go between holiday houses. So as their three kids were getting into their early 20s, John Eady and Kelley Eady-Loveridge decided it was time to dip their toe into the second home market again. “We’d done a lifestyle build in the past, but then we had 10 years without a fixed holiday spot,” says John. “We made a spontaneous decision to go up to Mangawhai, as we all love the sea and water, and the east coast. We didn’t go anywhere else.
“It was a private sale, we had no idea what we were buying. It was right on two ponds, there’s a board walk and we thought that part was public land. We discovered it’s a lovely thriving community. There are great places to go and wonderful walks, and of course proximity to the coast.”
The couple are design aficionados, so after they settled on the property in 2015 — and discovered the ponds were theirs — photographer Kelley and John happily played with designs, going through multiple iterations. They’d also had a hand in designing the delightful showrooms and cafe of the family’s music business, Lewis Eady , so were no strangers to building.
“We were re-dipping our toes into having a bach, and to see if we really liked the area, so we didn’t want to sink huge money into the build,” says John. “We wanted something simple, to meet our needs without stretching ourselves.
“Arriving at the scheme of two identical pods was about iteration five or six. And as I’m a businessman, I have an aversion to baches sitting empty, so we decided to make it rentable on Airbnb to pay the rates.”
The striking design of the two cedar-clad pods has charmed other holidaymakers, with more than 50 nights’ bookings in their first summer last season (bookings are in place for this summer until final sale settlement in midJanuary), plus many a family holiday.
The arrangement of the identical pods — one with a kitchen, the second with a laundry that doubles as a self-contained spot for guests (with a microwave, bar fridge and appliances, but no stove) — means that the family can use one pod, paying or family guests another. And when the kids and friends congregate, both pods serve the hordes of tents spread over the flat lawn.
The couple drew inspiration from various sources: the tiny Nat Cheshiredesigned pods that won Home of the Year, a boutique in Spain and their favourite hotel in Queenstown.
Settling on a striking black cork for walls and ceilings gave the interior the ecocred the Eadys wanted — it’s sustainably sourced and has high insulation values — while the dark-stained Shadowclad exterior is easy to maintain. The landscaping is equally low-maintenance and sustainable. Determined to have no concrete to spoil the barefoot-bach look, Kelley and John spent agonising hours the first winter moving 16 tonne of stone into gabion walls that retain and shelter the pods. Cars park at the roadside on a permathene product that allows water to permeate and grass to grow. Native plants are already blurring the boundaries between lawns and wetlands around the ponds. The rest of the sites around the pond are covenanted, so can’t be built out.
With views to the pond to the south, the simple square pods feature a single deep window seat in a striking frame on that side, an enticing spot for winter contemplation or overflow sleeping for children (the mezzanine double bedroom has a built-in single bed tucked into the slope of the roof ). Living rooms have sliding doors to the northern terrace, flooding the single bench kitchen and dining area with light. Liebherr appliances, bright steel shelves and splashback make for an efficient kitchen set-up.
The Eady family have happily discovered that bach and beach life is for them, so after a couple of great summers in their pods are selling to build something more suited to a longer-term home so they can live part-time between Mangawhai and the city, repeating the style and planting of their first pods.