Flying Into Whitianga – Coromandel, New Zealand

DETAILS

Exterior Cladding:

Auckland-based couple Steve and Teresa recently completed this unique barn-style build in the Coromandel township of Whitianga.

Despite Whitianga’s obvious beachside appeal, the location was chosen for quite a different reason entirely: its proximity to an airfield.

Steve and Teresa have retirement in their sights, and for Steve – as a professional pilot – having the opportunity to build right beside an airstrip was the decider.

With the taxiway right outside the house, Steve can taxi right up to the front of the house and pull their Piper Archer four-seater plane straight into the custom-built garage.

The couple currently split their time between Auckland and Whitianga, to test the waters and see if Whitianga is where they would be happy spending their retirement.

A 25 minute flight from Auckland compared to the 2 hour, 40 minute drive makes this testing of the water far more achievable.

After having recently completed a build in Auckland, the couple were keen to put their recent learnings to good use, and to follow up with this build while the experience was fresh in their minds.

Steve and Teresa decided on Design Builders as the build partners for this project, as they came highly recommended from the owners of a recently completed house two doors down from their Whitianga section.

Helping to make the cladding and finish choice even easier, a builder in their family had also used Abodo’s Vulcan Cladding and had found it great to work with.

Once up, Steve and Teresa’s builders were also thrilled to bits because the cladding was so stable and easy to work with.

The couple had a few other flamboyant design ideas in mind, for example a cork wall in the entrance and barn doors to frame the entry to the library.

With an in-house architect and a flexible, collaborative approach to the design process, Design Builders were able to accommodate these non-standard designs.

Being less than an hour’s flight away from site also meant the couple (and Piper, the dog) could fly down regularly to check in on progress and keep open communication with the build team on any changes or design choices as they came up.

As a result, Steve and Teresa are very happy with their new home.

Not only does it meet their unique hangar-style design brief on the exterior, it’s warm and cosy and incorporates the unique touches in the interior that makes it their own.

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