Chris and Laurie Palmer had plenty of time to plot the perfect redesign of the Browns Bay cliff-top property they bought in 2001. The couple had bought an older home on a spreading site with 180-degree views down the beach and around the ocean. Their boys were then 8 and 11 but the family were thinking ahead to teenage years when they called in architectural designer Barry Northcott, of Dimension Design.
The rebuild — practically a new house on the footprint of the original — maximised use of the site and made the most of those views as far as Great Barrier and Tiri.
"We had real fun creating this house. Honestly there is nothing we would change if we had to do it again," Chris says. "We used the same footprint and went up a storey. We wanted a teenage family-style house. It's a beach house, everything is designed for indoor-outdoor flow, we can easily entertain 100 people and have space left over."
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The three-level house was zoned for family living on the mid-floor, where the designer incorporated weatherboarding, stainless steel ship's rigging and even a porthole window to introduce the boating mood. The double-height kitchen and living room have dazzling views across to the water, through the wall of glass with a huge entertainers' kitchen with plenty of storage. Two dishwashers and a granite countertop take care of the crowds for meals, and the sandy colour scheme is easy care and barefoot beachy. The deck overlooks the pool and beach house on the ground level, while tucked to one side is a cosier sitting area arranged around a fireplace (more for comforting viewing, says Chris, as radiant heating keeps the whole house toasty).
