Drury: Lasting memories

Designed to capture the holiday mood is this amazing lodge-style dream home in Drury. By VICKI HOLDER.

Holidays can have a powerful influence over the way we want to live our everyday lives. They remind us of the fun times, the romance and the quiet sense of escape from the mundane.

This impressive country residence on a lifestyle property in Drury brings together treasured memories the owners have of mountain lodges, where they stayed while skiing in the South Island and Colorado.

Cedar cladding and joinery, asphalt roof shingles, copper spouting and the heavy use of schist were a must. But the feature they most wanted to create was a high cathedral-like corner in the home, where a soaring schist chimney makes a dominant focal point rising up through a raked, double-height, timber ceiling.

The owners purchased the native timber - matai for the floors and rimu for the ceilings - three years before they built the house, just in time before new regulations prohibited its use.

In this enormous room that could easily house hundreds of guests at one time, the heaviness of beautifully crafted solid timber beams that criss-cross the space is offset with light that pours in from all directions. The tall windows are unencumbered with drapes. In fact, there are no curtains anywhere in the house, for there are no close neighbours. And the owners enjoy bringing the views inside day and night. The distant city lights are dazzling in the evening.

As the sun moves around from dawn to dusk, it comes in through the many doors that open to terraces and decks on both sides of the room. There are sunny places to escape to no matter which way the wind blows.

To the rear of the space, a schist wall forms an intimate sitting alcove with sparkling halogen lights in three small display cut-outs.

On slate and timber flooring kept warm by underfloor heating, the kitchen was crafted by Fyfe from rimu with a black granite benchtop. Many of the appliances, including the wider-than-usual Omana fridge-freezer, were brought in from the US and integrated for a seamless look.

Innovative corner solutions make the most of the available space, and the finest glassware and china can be seen through lit, glass-fronted cupboards. A black double Smeg oven includes a barbecue grill, rotisserie and spit for chickens. Sleek mesh drawers counter the traditional appearance of the matt timber finishes.

The raised, elliptical-shaped counter that separates the kitchen from the rest of the room is made from New Zealand blackwood, which is also used for the servery through bifolds leading to an expansive barbecue deck and in the bar of a huge entertaining lounge downstairs.

The natural materials give a warm, earthy appeal throughout the home. The entry is particularly impressive with its colossal cedar door slatted with glass panes. The first of many bathrooms is encountered nearby in a small but beautifully detailed powder room featuring limestone and pebbled floors and light-reflecting, Italian mosaic tiles around the stone vanity.

Five bedrooms are set on several different levels so everyone is treated to a degree of privacy. The guest suite can be accessed along the front deck as well as via a passage from the entry. With tall ceilings, this room has an airy feeling and looks out to a tract of bush that forms the boundary. The en suite adjoins the owners' son's room, where built-in desks help to keep the room tidy.

On the top floor, the master sanctuary sprawls across several rooms. Her dressing room is set at the end of a space that was almost forgotten until they realised how much room it offered. It is now a large office with Velux skylights. His dressing room is down some steps, on the way to the master suite. This voluminous light-filled room looks out across the sweeping lawn to a glider-launching strip and beyond to the Sky Tower and the Manukau Heads in the distance.

Balancing the desire for big, beautiful living spaces are practical considerations, like South Island standard insulation for warmth, abundant power points inside and out, a well-conceived laundry with big Kenmore whiteware and double garaging plus covered boat parking. Only just completed, this dream family home is a modern masterpiece, as functional as it is big, bold and beautiful.

Vital Statistics

ADDRESS: 41 Harry Dreardon Rd, Drury.

FEATURES: Large country lodge-style home on lifestyle property built of cedar and schist with polished matai floors, rimu ceilings and schist feature walls; commanding position overlooking countryside with distant city views; large decks and terraces; three levels; five-plus bedrooms with ceiling fans; five bathrooms, including four en suites; entertaining lounge with bar; underfloor heating in Fyfe kitchen; insulated to South Island standards; large laundry; double garaging plus carport; concealed water tanks.

SIZE: Land area 3 acres, floor area 7300sq ft (including decks).

PRICE INDICATOR: Between $1.5 million and $2 million.

AGENTS: Chris Duder and Vicki Wallace, Bayleys. Ph Chris 298 2525 bus; 021 390 221 mob; Vicki 375 6835 bus; 021 988 585 mob.