The big reveal

Finally … I am able to show my daughters new house. It took quite some convincing for her to allow me to publish these and it was on the understanding that I explain that they are still busy varnishing floors, skirting boards are still missing, and, and, and … there are unfinished things all over the place – so please bear that in mind.

Still not quite finished (notice the work people and equipment in the photos) they have been scrambling and working around the clock to get things as ‘finished’ as they can. The reason for this final rush to finish is that they have guests arriving from the UK on Friday and are hosting Christmas Lunch at their new home next week. You can see how much they have achieved in the last two weeks if you look back at this post where I showed the “garden” – or rather, the soon-to-be garden. What a change … the pool is almost ready to be filled, the entertainment deck and patio have been tiled and lawn has been laid. A new wall is being erected around the front to accommodate the new entrance gate and to replace the awful wall that was / is still there (will be removed once the new wall is completed) and more cobble stones are being laid to complete the driveway.

A quick recap: They bought the house primarily for the location and mostly for view from the property of the mountain which they fell in love with. The original house was demolished (except for the foundations which were sound) and they designed their dream home (no architects involved). This was partly due to limited funds but also because they had a dream of building their own house for quite some time. A student then helped them draw up their plans, they got the plans approved by council and then employed a small team to help them with the build*. All the beams and doors have been made from wood they salvaged from the existing house, they’ve installed solar panels (I can’t believe how little electricity they are using – I am seriously considering going that route next year) and they have invested in a big Jojo tank (for collecting rain water) and wherever possible, built using reclaimed material from the old house.

But enough with all the waffling, let me show you what they’ve done …

First, inside downstairs in the open plan living / dining and kitchen (remember that they bought the house for the view which they want to see from nearly every room. Hence the massive windows all looking to the mountain).

[one_half]Downstairs living room area to patio[/one_half]

[one_half_last]From lounge to double volume dining area[/one_half_last]

[one_half]From the lounge looking to the kitchen[/one_half]

[one_half_last]From living room to the patio and pool[/one_half_last]

[one_half]View from patio onto the driveway and lawn[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Back inside … the kitchen[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Dining and kitchen area from stairs[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Another view of the downstairs area[/one_half_last]

[one_half]From behind the kitchen island[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The downstairs Guest suite (off the living area)[/one_half_last]

The downstairs guest suite (which looks small in the photo but is actually very large) has an en-suite bathroom and separate loo, and the doors lead out onto the back yard area – potential here is for a created garden, something lovely and private.

Now let’s go upstairs … the banister is still being completed, the lamp doesn’t live there and there is still a bit to be done, as you will see.

[one_third]Going up the (unfinished)stairs[/one_third]

[one_third]The unfinished bannister[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Three bedrooms up there[/one_third_last]

[one_third]The double volume dining area[/one_third]

[one_third]As seen from the landing[/one_third]

[one_third_last]The landing to the bedrooms[/one_third_last]

The main bedroom leads to a private patio with the lovely view they bought the property for, I won’t bore you with photos of the two other bedrooms (each has its own en-suite bathroom) and their windows look out to the back of the property.

[one_half]Looking down from the stairs[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The landing seen from below[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The main bedroom with its view[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The view from their private patio[/one_half_last]

[one_third]Towards the dressing room[/one_third]

[one_third]The dressing room[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Seen from the dressing room[/one_third_last]

Ok, now for the outside and what still remains to be done …

[one_half]The House that Steffi built![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Here it is from the front …[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Trellises will go in between the pillars[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The new lawn and newly built, unfinished wall[/one_half_last]

[one_third]Old vs new wall (incomplete)[/one_third]

[one_third]Almost there, tiling the lap pool[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Still lots to be done here[/one_third_last]

So there we have it! The house that Stefani & Iain built – they are both notorious for starting projects and not finishing them … lets hope this is not one of those 🙂