KEY POINTS:
The South Island may have scooped the big prizes at last night's Registered Master Builders 2007 House Of The Year Awards, but South Auckland also scored a win - for the best home built for under $250,000.
A modern Dunedin mansion in Maori Hill took the prize for New Homes over $1 Million and was PlaceMakers Supreme Award winner.
Designed by Mason & Wales Architects and built by JJ Oskam Builders, the opulent plaster home was described by judges as a "stand-out" entry among the 100 finalists.
The winner of the New Homes Under $250,000 category went to a Pukekohe property built by design-and-build company Haven Homes for their office manager Hayley Morrice and her partner Luke Hendry.
The couple told the Herald on Sunday earlier this year that they didn't want their 159.3sq m house, clad in Linea weatherboard and grooved plywood, to blend in - "we want it to be different".
They succeeded, thanks to high and slim horizontal windows to ensure privacy, and a design emphasis put into the home's indoor-outdoor flow. A Kinlock cedar-and-schist home built by David Reid Homes won the New Homes $350,000-$450,000 category, and Rob van Weerd Construction took home the Nulook Builder's Own Home for a residence in Hamilton.
The James Hardie Show Home Award and Future Proof Building category went to Rod Percival Builders for a Whitianga Airfield show home sporting environmentally friendly products.
A contemporary home in Christchurch's Fendalton won the category for New Homes $600,000-$1 million.
