Brian Vidler and Anna Hardwick-Smith wanted a home, not just a house.
The house, which is a contemporary Lockwood design won four prizes in the Taranaki Registered Master Builders House of the Year awards, but was never intended to be a showpiece.
The prizes are the builders', really, says Brian. Their reward, was moving into a home they love.
The house was designed by Anna's brother, Wellington architect John Hardwick-Smith, and drafted by Lockwood Homes around their specific requirements: spacious rooms, oodles of storage, a working office space for Anna , plenty of light and sun, energy efficiency, and blending in with the beautiful Mangamingi farm landscape with wide-opening sliders and decks along the full front of the house.
``We not only wanted a thing of beauty, but something that would fit in with the surroundings,'' says Brian. Underfloor water pipes are heated by a diesel burner, and a woodburner ensures the 35m-long house stays snug, while solar heating heats the hot water cylinder .