7 minute read
Steep & meaningful
This hillside in the Bombays may have proved too difficult for some to build on, but for this busy professional couple, it is heaven on earth
LEFT Robust materials including Colorsteel longrun roofing in ‘Ebony’ and a spine of concrete tilt panels anchor the dwelling to the hillside. The owners have planted Boston ivy to clamber over and soften the concrete wall.
THIS PAGE In the living areas, Quick-Step Compact flooring in ‘Natural Oak’ has an extra-matt finish. Owners Heather and Elle chose a Valentina rug in ‘Blush’ from Coco Republic to define the lounge, where a beaten brass drum coffee table from Freedom teams with Seymour chairs and a Jasper sofa, both from King Living.
WITH ITS RUSTIC board-and-batten cladding and rural setting, where five sheep, two pigs, two chickens and a cat-that-got-the-cream roam, it’s a surprise to find how sleek and minimal this home in the Bombay Hills is on the inside. Somehow comforting too. Owners Heather and Elle Le Cocq-Estcourt are both medical professionals and Heather, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, no doubt needs both vision and precision to fulfil her role at the operating table. “I like everything to look very aesthetic,” she admits. “We are both quite organised.”
This project has been a long-held ambition for Heather who, as a teenager, watched her parents build a house on Jersey in the Channel Islands. The process inspired her. “I wanted to live somewhere that we got to choose everything − and design it exactly the way we wanted it,” she says. Moving to New Zealand nine years ago made that possible.
The couple say they instantly fell in love with the 4600-square-metre site. Tūī and whispering gumtrees welcomed them at the gate and, once they made their way halfway along the hill, hawks circling the valley below evoked a wild and magical feeling. “I felt like we’d be living in the land, not just on top of it,” says Heather. F
ABOVE Outside the main bedroom is a courtyard with bluestone crazy paving; it’s a tranquil spot for coffee if you’re up with the birds.
LEFT Shadowclad ply boardand-batten cladding and garapa timber decking have a rustic feel that belies the glamour of the interiors.
Yet, they knew it would be a struggle to get the ground shovel-ready. The site was steep. All of it. When the house company that sold them the land started to appear out of their depth in terms of dealing with the vertiginous slope, they switched to David Reid Homes.
First, local franchise owner Brendon Hamill and Elle (a registered nurse) got to grips with the engineering requirements, working out a solution that would give them a building platform and not leave the financials in tatters. Brendon also gently persuaded Heather away from a two-storey home. “Coming from England, that was my initial plan, but Brendon said a single-level design would fit in the land really well – and he was right,” says Heather.
Today, the first glimpse of the house gives an understanding of the challenge they faced. A four-metre graduated retaining wall circles dwelling and driveway, and sets the stage for the main event. From here on in, however, simplicity reigns. The concrete anchors the rear of a linear footprint that comprises a centralised living zone that separates two bedroom wings – one for Elle and Heather, and another for their guests. It’s contemporary, calm and exquisitely decked out.
Heather, ever methodical, had chosen every last tile and tap well in advance of the build. “I thought it was what we were meant to do,” she laughs. Her aim was for a luxe, strong aesthetic and to use ideas she’d picked up from Instagram and home-makeover shows. “I have to admit to being a fan of The Block Australia,” she says.
She enjoyed working closely with Leonie Hamill of Cube Dentro on the kitchen design. Her ‘must-have’ in the home included a smokey mirror and it was Leonie who persuaded her she needed a built-in cocktail bar to go with that wish-listed item. The kitchen is pared back, yet luxurious. A wall of glossy white cabinetry with no handles is the backdrop to the dark-stained island which is topped in Iranian onyx and lit from below so that it seems to float in space. F
OPPOSITE A double-sided fireplace separates the kitchen from the living room and bar where Lee Broom pendants hang above the cocktail cabinetry. A Tom Dixon copper pendant lends metallic magic, and a smokey mirror reflects the view.
LEFT The kitchen, designed with Leonie Hamill from Cube Dentro, has glossy white cabinetry, a benchtop of white Iranian onyx and a Phoenix Vivid Slimline sink mixer. A Lee Broom Mini Crescent chandelier is the final touch.
BELOW Art was an important consideration in the design and a commissioned work by London artist Sophie Derrick hangs on the concrete wall; above the fireplace is a piece bought from Flo & Frankie.
LEFT A roughsawn, timber-finished concrete wall in the main bedroom and ceilings clad in American ash battens bring texture to the material palette. RIGHT In contrast, the concrete wall in the guest bedroom is smooth but still perfectly imperfect. OPPOSITE Rose gold Progetto Buddy tapware has a modern elegance alongside the Victoria & Albert Barcelona bath and polished porcelain Verona white wall tiles.
Adjacent to this, the bar is the epitome of glamour with suspended brass shelving, oblique brass detailing in the cabinetry and brass Lee Broom pendants all reflected in that smokey-glass mirror. Cocktail hour never felt so 007.
Intimate moments such as these are woven into many aspects of the design – which may be minimal but still embraces humanity. The couple insisted on three fireplaces – yes, three – and the 1.5 metre-wide throughwall one between the living and dining area brings a special ambience to both zones. There is another in the courtyard and a third in the library, where two leather easy chairs huddle around a free-standing gas fire that looks just like a woodburner. “We didn’t want the primary purpose of this room to be a study. We wanted it be somewhere we could sit comfortably and pick up a book while drinking a brandy,” says Heather.
With floor-to-ceiling windows that frame the great outdoors as hero, there are many places to appreciate the landscape. Nine-metre wide sliding doors lead out to a deck that becomes a bridge on an ocean of green. Heather and Elle, who got the keys to their new life in December 2019, have transformed paddocks full of thistles and replaced the 100 gum trees they had to remove to build with 130 seasonal and evergreen trees. It has been hard yakka every weekend, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. “To wake up every day to see the view from the hill, with the sky ever changing, makes us appreciate the beauty of the house itself and the way the land wraps around to hold us.” F
Future thinking
In the design and build of their first home together, Heather and Elle tried to anticipate how the dwelling would cope with all their tomorrows. Here are their learnings:
• Design rooms to be wheelchair friendly with everything on a single level and no stairs, even at the entrance. • Open plan is useful for wheelchair access but, where there are doorways, make them extra wide and ensure everything is flush with the floor level, for example, no step to the outside or up into the shower. • Don’t compromise on quality to achieve the ‘luxury’ of an extra bedroom that you may hardly use.
Think laterally. The home officially has two bedrooms but the library (or snug) could convert to a third bedroom for resale. And the bathroom at that end of the home is not an en suite so it can be easily accessed. • The pair anticipate that once lockdown is over, they will receive a few more overseas visitors. The house is designed in two ‘wings’ with a central area for gathering but privacy for all. • Use trees and shrubs to give structure to a large garden where maintenance may one day become too difficult to keep up with.
ABOVE A painting by Elle at the end of the hallway is based on artwork used on the bottle of the couple’s favourite champagne: Gardet Raphael Laventure rosé.
LEFT Vintage chairs bought on Trade Me occupy the cosy snug.
