Town & Country

Town & Country The best of two worlds comes together in this home with cuttingedge good looks but grassroots functionality

LEFT Glossy polished floors reflect the furnishings and foliage in this sunny coffee area. ABOVE Shiplap cedar, schist and Espan metal in ‘Flaxpod’ are used in combination to create interest on the exterior. BELOW The schist wall anchors the home to the land and the landscape.

CHRIS LEITH IS a Southlander from farming stock so he likes to speak plainly. When he and his wife Tracey moved from the region to Wanaka, and decided to build, one of his main concerns was beer o’clock. “I wanted to be able to sit outside and enjoy the Central Otago sun without being blown away,” he says. “If I ended up having to drink my stubby behind glass, I might as well have stayed in Gore.”

No worries there. The home the Leiths designed has both shelter and aspect, open-ness and intimacy. And even though they swapped 10 acres for a 700-squaremetre site, they have achieved the perfect balance of seclusion and sociability.

The gently sloping section in Kirimoko Park appealed because a grassy drainage swale used to channel heavy rain away provided ample separation from the neighbours. Even so, Chris admits, moving to a much smaller site was “a bit of a shock to the system”.

But the Leiths had holidayed in Wanaka for years so, when the opportunity to buy the local David Reid Homes franchise came up, Chris, a trade-qualified builder, jumped at the chance to reinvent their lives. As such, they needed a place that felt immediately like home but also F

ABOVE A sliding barn door separates the stepped-down lounge from the kitchen/dining area. BELOW Dulux ‘Castlecliff’, a grey with a warm undertone, makes the living room more intimate whereas elsewhere the walls are painted Dulux ‘Mt Aspiring’.

captured the spirit of being on vacation. They also wanted somewhere their grown-up children – Tyler (28) and Courtney (21) – couldn’t wait to visit. The Leiths envisioned a home that felt right for just the two of them but could adapt to accommodate the inundation of family in the summer break. “We settled on three bedrooms and a fully insulated carpeted garage,” says Chris.

To craft the spaces, the couple was delighted to work with Aaron Jamieson from AJ Design, the son of old friends of the family. He keyed into their wish for something a bit edgy and different, while Chris, with his builder’s hat on, held the course steady intervening when he thought the occasional weird-and-wonderful concept wouldn’t work.

Such an intergenerational sharing of ideas and experience has produced architecture that is innovative yet practical. It’s texturally rich too: a wall of schist is a feature at the entrance and ties in with the prevailing vernacular in the region. “I had that stone lying around in my builder’s yard for many years; it’s big and solid and grounds the house,” says Chris. But there’s also metaltray cladding with a deep profile painted ‘Flaxpod’ that has the dark robustness to echo the mountainous F

THIS PAGE Ginny and Tony Wilkins love to spend time in the outdoor room where a living wall provides some relief against the dark-stained cedar cladding. THIS PHOTO LookBack Black tiles with a rusted patina are a talking point in the kitchen which has Black Prime cabinetry and a ply edge detail. The connected table is topped with blackwood veneer, and is a good spot to gather when outdoor dining is off the agenda.

ABOVE Double-glazed low-E aluminium windows keep things snug in winter while on summer evenings, the west-facing deck is well used. OPPOSITE, TOP A Vetralla II freestanding bath takes centrestage in this bathroom where Corten A floor tiles pick up on the weathered kitchen splashback and Absolute Bianco wall tiles have the look of concrete.

landscape, cedar that wraps its warm tones around the box that is the garage and elements of plaster sheet painted white to provide contrast.

This clan of cladding sets up an expectation of something special and the interiors do not disappoint. Those who come to share in a spot of renowned Southern hospitality often end up in the kitchen, congregated around the island or seated at the table that slots into it.

Invariably guests comment on the unusual splashback – a wall of large-format black tiles that look like weathered steel. Although it elicits many oohs and aahs and draws people to touch it, one visitor was less than impressed. “When Tracey’s dad first visited, he asked if we were going to be able to get the rust off the steel,” laughs Chris.

There’s a subtle Japanese aesthetic that runs through the spaces, from the Japanese maple that is framed in the picture window in the dining area to the minimal design of the black-and-timber kitchen and living zone. A wall mural (a black-and-white photograph of a Japanese lady)has even been used behind the bed in the main suite. “Tracey saw that at a friend’s house and fell in love with it. People either love it or hate it.”

Goes without saying that the windows are carefully placed for slices of paradise to enter the everyday and there’s only one bedroom that doesn’t get the mountainous landscape as part of the package. But the main lounge area, a step down from the kitchen to follow the contours of the land, is more introspective. This can be closed off with a sliding barn door which makes it cosy. It’s painted Dulux ‘Castlecliff’, a timeless deep grey to add delicious drama and is a relaxed hang-out zone, particularly when the Leiths’ grandkids come to stay. They love plumping into the shaggy sheepskin beanbags to watch TV as much as their granddad!

In the summer, the room, which seems to float above the garden filled with hardy natives, also has access to the main entertainment deck – sheltered and west-facing to catch the late-afternoon sun. Then the Leiths gather with friends to talk about their day spent boating, mountain biking or hiking in the hills. In quieter times, when the winter fun is over, they might retreat to the spa pool and raise a glass or a bottle to the snow groomers doing their thing up on the slopes of Treble Cone. It’s not a bad place to settle after all. Chris’ fears of downsizing were unfounded. As he puts it: “For a town house, it’s blimmin’ good.” P

Practical pointers

Chris and Tracey Leith’s pragmatic design tips focus on where to spend and where to pull back on the budget:

• You probably don’t need a house to be as big as you think. Bedrooms at 3.2 x 3.2 metres are ample. Also, create ‘flexible’ spaces, for example by ensuring the garage is well insulated and carpeted so it can become a rumpus room, art studio or even an extra bedroom. • To be more budget friendly, be selective about where you invest in quality materials. For instance, in the kitchen, use solid timbers on surfaces that need to take the knocks (preparation zones etc) but veneers on the doors. • A cold home is miserable and will cost in energy bills in the long run. Opt for concrete floors which trap the sun’s heat, use low-E double glazing to keep the heat in and install underfloor heating but offset this with solar. A grid-connected 3kW solar system with a battery helps offset the power this house uses in winter with near-free energy in summer. • You may be tempted to clad the entire home in cedar but for lower maintenance, try a product such as metal-tray which need only be hosed down once a year. • Automation is a nice to have but only install it where it’s really useful, such as sensor-operated low LED lighting in the hallway for night-time visits to the loo (the Leiths saved by not having any overhead lights in this area).

LEFT A mural of a Japanese lady is the unconventional backdrop to the bed in the main suite.