Page 68 - homestyle New Zealand (February - March 2020)

HOMES

ABOVE In the kitchen — off which a small scullery contains appliances and a coffee machine — a stainless steel shelf holds a Japanese teapot and cups the couple received
as a gift, a basket by Ruth Castle, and a mortar and pestle and rice bowls from Everyday Needs. The custom-designed mobile island unit can be moved around as the occasion
requires; the artwork beside it is by the couple’s friend James Tolich.

“We put negative detail top and bottom to make it more that tucks in beneath the roofline at a right angle to the
modern,” says Maria, whose design focus was also on creating original home. It effectively doubles the footprint and wraps
that missing flow and crafting a bedroom wing. The bathroom the courtyard garden into the architecture. A glazed corridor
and kitchen were kept in the same place to take advantage of running its length allows a connection to the outdoors rain
the existing plumbing, and a toilet and hot water cupboard in or shine. On summer days, American walnut sliders with
a lean-to were transformed into a scullery off the new kitchen. a pelmet detail close over the doorways to the bedrooms
The couple invested for maximum impact while economising so they become like a furniture cabinet within the form; in
with their own labour and clever design choices. The kitchen is winter, glass doors maintain the outlook to the garden while
a case in point, with its richly coloured American walnut cabinet passive solar gain warms up the sleep spaces.
fronts and slender stainless steel top. “I drew up the design and In the extreme north-east corner of the property, a concrete
had the timber CNC cut, then James and I put it together and ‘bookend’ creates an entertainment zone that draws the eye.
glued and clamped the benchtop,” says Maria. Poured in-situ, the seating is akin to a brutalist bus stop but
Because there was no space for an island, a custom-made softened with squabs that tone in with the trees. A fire bowl
mobile unit is a flexible stand-in. The large-format slate tiles placed on crazy paving made of Northland stone is a catalyst
that form its counter were another huge saving. “They were for companionable times.
an eighth of the cost of a single slab of slate,” says Maria. The With Oscar the bordoodle waiting patiently nearby for love
cedar slats used for the shelving were repurposed offcuts and leftovers, the scene could be straight out of a storybook.
from a pergola the couple built over the front deck. The Hoskings have fashioned the perfect family home. George,
The bedroom-wing extension is a long, skinny rectangle for one, approves.

66 homestyle