Houzz Tour: Seaside Cabins Blend Into the Bush
Glazing and slatting blend these guest cabins into their Bay of Islands' setting, creating the perfect homes-away-from-home for visitors
For one extended family, the last 30 years have been spent holidaying on a former farm, in a seaside valley in Northland’s iconic Bay of Islands. With established native trees – notably the spreading pohutukawa, which flowers red in the height of summer, and the grand puriri tree – the site was pretty special. However, as the family grew, the original house needed supplementing.
Discussions began in 2007 between the family and architect Noel Lane to slip two cabins into the hillside, away from the main house and some 20 metres from the beach. In 2016, the cabins were finished and finally ready for occupancy. Here you can see the result of several years of careful planning, hard work, and a strong sense of the area’s natural aesthetic.
Discussions began in 2007 between the family and architect Noel Lane to slip two cabins into the hillside, away from the main house and some 20 metres from the beach. In 2016, the cabins were finished and finally ready for occupancy. Here you can see the result of several years of careful planning, hard work, and a strong sense of the area’s natural aesthetic.
A visually strong design was specified in the brief, so the architects settled for a simple, rigorously pared-back structure. The setting prompted them to look to boat cabins for the detailing, with the structures left on show.
“They needed to be visually strong, but we wanted a dissolving structure,” Rowe says. “It had to be rigorous, with detailing deliberately showing, like the cabin of a boat.”
When the cedar weatherboard silvers off over time, the semi-transparent buildings will disappear even more.
“They needed to be visually strong, but we wanted a dissolving structure,” Rowe says. “It had to be rigorous, with detailing deliberately showing, like the cabin of a boat.”
When the cedar weatherboard silvers off over time, the semi-transparent buildings will disappear even more.
With their simple gable roofs and glass walls, the cabins feel generous without being extravagant. A glass-roof verandah in front, a glazed roof over the bathroom at the back and a part-height wall dividing the space allow light to flow through each building, making them appear bigger than they are and connecting them to the bush above.
American oak flooring: Just Hardwood Floors
American oak flooring: Just Hardwood Floors
Rafters were left exposed from front to back, starting with those under the glass roof of the verandah and continuing through the interior section of solid roof, to re-emerge in the glass roof above the bathroom and rear entry. Glass walls slide away, with louvres on both sides to allow for cross ventilation.
“We wanted some things expressed, others concealed,” says Rowe.
“We wanted some things expressed, others concealed,” says Rowe.
Rowe specified a grooved plywood to line the walls and ceiling, choosing a rough band-sawn texture for the ceiling, and smoother for the walls and joinery. The material was blonded so that it will stay pale, and not yellow-off with age.
Elite line grooved plywood: Plytech
Elite line grooved plywood: Plytech
While some parts of the building were left exposed, others such as the steel portals and insulation were concealed. Tonka, a durable South American hardwood, was used around the steel, part of the desired “refined rustic aesthetic with deliberate constructivist logic” as Rowe says. The floating walls mean that each cabin reads as one volume, to make it feel like a bigger space.
Rowe designed the cabinets to house wardrobes, as well as a small fridge and a place to make coffee: this allows the cabins to be complete retreats away from the bustle of the main house.
Rowe designed the cabinets to house wardrobes, as well as a small fridge and a place to make coffee: this allows the cabins to be complete retreats away from the bustle of the main house.
As well as the bathroom under the glass roof through which you can see the sky, Rowe added a slatted privacy wall to an outdoor shower at the rear so that bathers can see the bush and feel a connection to the landscape. The flooring is a wide-plank American oak, with a touch of luxury injected in the travertine marble and limestone floors and walls of the bathroom.
Honed Roman travertine: Italian Stone; bathroom fittings: Metrix; exterior Illumax LED lights: light.co.nz
Honed Roman travertine: Italian Stone; bathroom fittings: Metrix; exterior Illumax LED lights: light.co.nz
After their first summer of use, the cabins have had only one drawback, according to the architect: causing fights between visitors jostling to sleep in them. They have certainly achieved their owners’ dream: a place to take in spectacular sunsets, fish right off the beach and be immersed in the bush they have spent decades re-vegetating. Plans are now underway to renovate the existing farm house to match.
TELL US
What does your dream cabin by the sea look like? Share your ideas in the Comments below.
TELL US
What does your dream cabin by the sea look like? Share your ideas in the Comments below.
Location: Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand
Size: 60 square metres each, including a bedroom and bathroom
Year completed: 2016
Designer: Noel Lane with Tom Rowe of Rowe Baetens Architecture
The pair of cabins (you can just see the roof of the second one on the top left) are sited to face northwest for optimum sun. They were positioned to take advantage of the coastal view, concealed from each other but immersed in the native bush. The family spent many years regenerating the bush, and wanted the buildings to sit lightly in their setting. A shell path wends through the trees from the main house, enhancing the sense of retreat.
Cedar weatherboards and pergolas: Rosenfeld Kidson; aluminium joinery: Architectural Profiles Ltd