DESIGN EDIT ISSUE 40 | DESIGN TOUR
With a vista across the rolling rural countryside, this home is as peaceful as it is impressive.
THE BRIEF
This new-build home was designed to capture the relaxed, playful and exotic vibe of a holiday resort for this family of four and their pets, a haven for them in their busy lives. The rural landscape has been enhanced by masses of tropical planting, including an avenue of palms leading up the curving driveway, and a swathe of blue from the pool, while the architecture and interiors were designed to convey a sense of understated luxury.
Every detail of the design was considered - Kirsten Ford Design was engaged to work with the clients nearly two years before they actually moved into the home, the results affirming why patient and attentive design is always something to be invested in.
COLLABORATORS
LTD Architectural Design Studio captured the resort feel with a central living area complete with x metre vaulted ceilings flanked by two other pavilions for the master suite and the kids’ domain, accessed via glass-walled walkways with highly textured floors, mimicking the between room outdoor walkways found at the clients’ favourite resorts.
One of the clients’ favourite features of the home is the merging of the in and outdoors - which is completely fluid with an almost entirely glass front facade, expansive outdoor living with multiple views of greenery from every room.
But inside it’s the kitchen which is the centrepiece. Initial concepts were created early on by Kitchen Architecture and we ensured that this vision was brought to life through the build process. The stunning quartzite slab with navy veining was chosen almost a year in advance and is paired with navy metallic lacquer, antiqued timber panels, black timber veneer and a navy grasscloth-type wallpaper.
““Quality, unassuming materials have created an aesthetic that isn’t typically “resorty” but achieves the objective of an understated luxury interior through refined detailing and warm finishes.” ”
INSPIRATION
The style of this home was always going to be inspired by the tropical resort holidays this family love - even their wedding was in Fiji. And while we wanted to capture the carefree, tranquil holiday spirit, we did so in a fun and contemporary way, suited to the home’s rural north Auckland setting.
DESIGN DETAILS
The exterior palette is mindful of the rural setting with an earthy colour palette of oiled cedar and marbled plaster blade walls, all softened by the lush planting and multiple water features.
The interior materials are equally as honest - a repetition of the cedar and plaster walls, completed by hardwearing and no-fuss oak flooring, oversized travertine look tiles, and an impressive slab of navy blue-veined quartzite, offset by crisp white walls.
Quality, unassuming materials have created an aesthetic that isn’t typically “resorty” but achieves the objective of an understated luxury interior through refined detailing and warms finishes. The client’s love of navy blue is repeated through the home, offset with rich metallics, luxe velvets, and unexpected tropical motifs like tiger and leopard prints.
INSIDE EDGE
The pendant lighting is also key to the understated luxury of the home - the enormous glass pendants over the kitchen island and in the ensuite, as well as the liquid metal looking ones in the guest powder room and master wardrobe, are artworks in their own right, but being formed in glass they don’t overpower the space or hinder the views in any way.
THE RESULT
With obsessive attention to detail, we are super proud to have helped create this stunning home that delivers on the brief of understated luxury at every turn. The finished home provides the tranquil, breezy resort vibe so loved by our clients, in a contemporary, unique, and very stylish way.
