The owner of this rural property wanted a tropical holiday atmosphere for the new swimming pool and surrounding gardens and entertaining areas. The paddock out in front of the house was set aside for the development and a large overgrown and leaking pond was unceremoniously removed along with a few shelterbelt trees which were blocking…
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This redesign of an existing garden and pool was primarily concerned with improving the flow from the house out into the garden and creating a flexible range of outdoor living areas for family use and entertaining for large groups of friends. Previously the drive ran right through the garden next to the house – and…
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This magestic Arts and Crafts house has been lovingly restored by a dedicated couple from a virtually derelict state and now is a beautiful example of what can be done within the Arts and Crafts style. The garden was in a similar state of disrepair – a few lovely old trees and a nice set of steps in…
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This absolutely gorgeous historic house was sitting in a pretty sad old garden which had tragic notes of 1950?s makeovers throughout. A kidney-shaped pool, asphalt driveway around three sides of the house and an under-sized tennis court dominated the scene, capped off by a grim row of large Yew trees up the drive. Several beautiful…
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The American-style woodland garden is the inspiration for this garden. The client?s love of this style fortunately fitted well with the climatic conditions of this site ? reasonably sheltered with cold winters and warm summers. The brief was to create ?a resort in our back yard?! So a pool, poolhouse, tennis court and spa were…
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These clients love space! The problem was that the best, most sheltered part of the garden – and the area best connected to the house – didn’t look big enough for their taste. The lawn fell away into a small gully only a few metres from the house. I have always loved those tropical treehouse type designs which have decks, complete…
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This property, a lifestyle block in Pauatahanui, is elevated with great views over the surrounding countryside? but the wind really hits the garden and the thought of investing in a pool which was too cold and windy to enjoy was too much to cope with. The pool was located around the back of the house…
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The brief for this project was to create a restful yet contemporary series of spaces around the house for relaxing and socialising. I was keen to ensure that this sat well within the rural scene and reflected where they were. There was limited flat space so the pool and lawn were built out into the paddock with…
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This Olive farm in Martinborough, as yet without a house but with rapidly maturing olive groves and amenity plantings, is again an excellent example of how planning can help to create a semi-mature landscape to support a future house. The olives have been planted along the natural contours of this undulating site, and this lends…
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This is the internal courtyard of a very groovy architecturally-designed house set on a hilltop in Wairarapa. It makes maximum use of texture as a response to the clients’ love of texture – she is a textile designer. Rustic, locally sourced materials make reference to the rural location and give an informal flavor to the simple hard-edged design.…
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