An award-winning eco-friendly house hand-crafted by its owners who have spent the last four years putting the finishing touches on is on the market as the couple look to embark on an even bigger and more challenging build.
Wellington builder come architectural designer Tim Wernham-Doo and contemporary jeweller Tara Brady have loving built the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 135 Rakau Road in Hataitai after falling in love with a narrow and steep 240sqm site nestled in the bush.
The couple weren’t far into their relationship when they decided in 2017 to build both a comfortable and sustainable house for themselves on a tight budget, Wernham-Doo said.
It was Wernham-Doo's first challenge as a newly trained architect designer and the launching pad into his architectural practice Constructive Architecture and Brady’s chance to develop her jewellery skills into joinery skills.
Start your property search
Wernham-Doo spent the first year and a half building a comfortable shell. The steepness of the site meant he had to build a lot of the house on the street and then carry it down to the site.
“So, everything kind of had to be made on site which made the process quite long and arduous, but ultimately very satisfying. It’s nice to know now I essentially carried that house down the hill. So, it was very challenging, but now that it’s here it feels really right.”
The interiors of the house are stylish and contemporary. Photo / Supplied
The owners had to carry all parts of the house down the 40-degree slope. Photo / Supplied
The couple them moved into it the house before it even had a kitchen and have spent the last few years building the cabinetry in it.
While the number one priority was building a warm and comfortable home for them, they also wanted to create a home that was thermally efficient and chemical free and also utilise their own skill sets.
Those impressive skills are showcased in almost every part of the house from the bespoke window and door joinery and entertainment cabinet.
Wernham-Doo said it is the type of joinery he would only do on his own home due to how time consuming and detailed it is.
“We hand-built the whole lot so anything that’s other than walls, floor or roof we’ve kind of built.”
They also sourced as many natural and sustainable materials as they could using wind-felled Totara on the floors, wool insulation in the walls and opting to use magnesium oxide board instead of the common GIB plasterboard to line the walls. Chemical free paints and oils were also used to finish the house off.
But for Wernham-Doo, the birdsong and sunsets on the bush-surrounded section surround by reserve are still his favourite things about the property.
The property looks out to the bush. Photo / Supplied
The house was made from natural and sustainable materials. Photo / Supplied
“The big obvious thing is just the bush outlook and the birdsong. It’s a really beautiful little sheltered spot. We feel quite lucky – it’s sort just nestled in the bush with these beautiful sunsets. It’s just a lovely kind of relaxing meditative area.”
The couple’s hard work was also acknowledged at the Architectural Designers New Zealand Awards last year when the house won both the regional ADNZ award and was a national finalist for new house under 150sqm. It was also highly commended for its interiors at the regional awards.
And despite the house being a five-year labour of love, the couple are now planning a move north of Auckland where they plan to choose a larger and flatter site to build their next home.
“I want to be able to push a wheelbarrow around it,” Wernham-Doo said.
As they seek out a change of lifestyle this time with a young child in tow, they also want a spot where they can do more permaculture gardening.
Wernham-Doo expects the next build will challenge themselves even more.
“We will take a lot of what we learnt on this one and probably just push it further on the next one. I look forward to taking some of the skills I learned and just developing them even further. Probably it will be custom making even more aspects of the house – swaying away from off the shelf.”
Ray White Wellington salesperson Ben Atwill, who is marketing the property, said the craftsmanship in the house was “out-of-this-world".
Atwill has been inundated with enquiries including people in Philadelphia and Melbourne who are planning a move back to the capital and want to secure a home first.
“It really is a phenomenal home, but at the same time it’s approachable, it’s not outside the realms of possibility. It’s been designed for a family and that’s what it will be for.”
The property is being sold by tender.
