Pioneer of NZ building dies

A pioneer in the New Zealand building industry Barry Beazley has died, aged 80, in his hometown of Mount Maunganui.
With its catchy advertising jingle - "Easily a Beazley Home" - and distinctive L-shaped styling, Beazley Homes were a favourite with first-home buyers in New Zealand  from the 50s to the 70s.
Barry's late father Fred, known as  "Radiata Fred'' founded  Beazley Homes in Tauranga and began expanding its operations throughout the North Island. Barry was based
at Mount Maunganui.
By 1961 they were operating nationwide and in 1962 father and son merged to form a single company, Beazley Homes,  with their headquarters in Macville Rd and then in Hull Rd, Mount Maunganui.
Barry was best known for pioneering the idea of pre-cutting timber framework for wood homes. The idea quickly took off and housing kits were produced in Mount Maunganui with more than 40 units being sent out each week by truck, rail or ship  around New Zealand and overseas.
By the late 1960s he was building 1600 houses a year.
He saw "kit homes" as a solution for mass housing demand in post-war New Zealand.
In 1972, Beazley Homes and PTY Homes  (Putaruru) formed  Waitemata Properties  to specialise in home building in Auckland. Merritt-Beazley Homes,  a Christchurch-based joint venture company,  covered the South Island.
In 1973 Beazley Homes was awarded the New Zealand Export Award of the Year. By this time the company had constructed well over 16,000 houses in New Zealand.
Barry had reached the pinnacle of his achievements when he sold Beazley Homes to Fletcher Holdings,  later to became part of Fletcher Residential. This was managed by the late Jim Fletcher and Doug Hitchcock.
He then moved to  Australia and, with his son Mark, developed a steel modular home system which became known as Force 10.
There have been four generations of Beazley builders, with Barry's grandfather, Albert, building homes throughout Auckland with his son Fred. Barry has also worked closely with his own builder son Mark. His wife Doreen brought her artistic flair to decorating many show homes in New Zealand and around the world.

Barry is survived by his wife Doreen and children Linda and Mark. He has three grandchildren Alice, Phoebe and Riki.
His funeral will be held at St Mary's Church at 1pm on Monday.