Built with love from the ground up
Photos Spasic Studio
Caitlin and Zac Anderson, a young couple from Mangawhai, worked with Kyle Kake from Mason Street Architectural Drafting to design their first home. The brief was simple; they had a tight budget and wanted to create a functional first home, filled with natural light and indoor-outdoor flow, while also showcasing their personal style.
Zac is a seasoned chippy and spearheaded the build, adding his own rustic style where he could. Caitlin is a busy stay-at-home Mum to the couple’s two girls under two, and also owns and operates a small online business called Adore Store, which specialises in pregnancy, postpartum and parenthood products.
They wanted to create a warm and welcoming space where their friends and family could relax and know there was always a coffee or cold beer on offer.
The house was built with love from the ground up. Both Zac and Caitlin’s families live locally and helped with the build where they could – from standing the frames on the day that level-three lockdown ended, to painting soffits nearer to the finish line, everything helped and enabled Zac to put his fine building skills to work and create a beautiful abode for the Anderson family. The concrete fireplace was a labour of love and is now the heart of the home. Zac called in his in-situ expert friends from Te Arai Construction to help with the pour of the fireplace. Close friends, Sam and Louis Smith, milled locally-grown poplar, which lined the formwork resulting in a circular- sawn finish, beautifully engrained on the face of the concrete.
The home is clad in a combination of Ironsand Colorsteel and Abodo, Vulcan Sioo:x timber. The Abodo has silvered off to a beautiful, low-maintenance finish. They wanted something different from cedar, and the Abodo timber has a special coating that not only protects the wood but allows it to weather evenly, no matter if it’s in full sun or shade – the perfect choice for a house beside the ocean.
The home is adorned with beautiful décor and embodies a sun-filled, relaxed aesthetic. Caitlin loves to spend her spare time sourcing beautiful, high-quality, ‘forever’ furnishings. The solid kauri dining table was a Facebook Marketplace find, while the feather-filled linen couch was found brand new on Trade Me for a fraction of the price.
The warm, white, tongue-and-groove interior walls give a nod to the coastal setting. Beautiful artwork by New Zealand artists Karl Maughan and Simon Lewis Wards were gifts at their wedding and now line the walls of their daughters' room. A beautiful Slim Aarons takes pride of place at the entrance and reminds the couple of their travels and the nine months they spent in Lake Tahoe.
Although now busy with their two young girls, Zac and Caitlin’s minimalist style is slowly being taken over by colourful toys scattered through the home. The once calm and quiet walls are now filled with laughter and joy, and the beautiful house they built is now truly starting to feel like a home.
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