While earthy colours were an important device to blend this new house with its rural landscape, inside the owners splashed a variety of vibrant colours, like the Resene Kombi in the dining room shown here, to evoke a sense of fun with a slightly retro 1970s flavour.

So while Resene Grey Friars corrugated steel and Resene Equilibrium stained plywood form a natural, almost weathered palette inside you’ll find Resene Mexican Wave (orange) doors, a Resene Kombi (green) dining room and a Resene Guru (blue-teal) living room.

The house was designed by architectural designer Brynn McCauley for a site to sit at the base of the foothills of the Tararua ranges, north of Wellington.

What was your overall design philosophy?

The clients wanted a home that would be a simple and clear response to its site and to fit in like the many functional rural buildings that inhabit the area.

The building facade is made up of a number of forms strung across the site, which align with the escarpment behind. These forms also relate to the simplicity of the modest milking and rural sheds that dot the area with their often simple facades and striking mono-pitch roof forms. The intention is that they appear as a collection of rural buildings clustered together across the paddock.

The profiled metal cladding and simply battened plywood   references the typical palette of materials used in these buildings. Plywood has also been used inside, in the kitchen, to blend the interior with the exterior form.

The long open plan of the living areas is also a reference to the openness of these sheds.

What Resene colours were used, and what inspired those choices?

Colour was an important requirement in the consideration of integrating the building into the site. Earthy and darker tones were a requirement on the exterior. Inside, however, splashes of vibrant colour were used throughout the building giving the house a sense of fun with a slightly retro 1970s flavour. The clients also have a collection of 1970s furniture and related a number of the colour choices to these furniture items.

What part of the design are you most happy with?

I am most happy with how the form and feel of the building fits in with its site and the relationship the forms and materials have with the simple rural sheds in the district.

What was the biggest design challenge for this project?

The project had a fantastic site and clients with a strong sense of design .The most difficult thing was taking the form of a common milking shed and adding all the spaces and amenities a client needs to make it a home without loosing the simplicity of those buildings.

The simple forms of the house along with an earthy palette of Resene Grey Friars and Resene Equilibrium anchors the new home to its rural landscape, tucked into the foothills of the Tararua ranges. 

A bold wall of tealy blue Resene Guru echoes tones in the owners’ collection of 1970s retro furniture. 

The main bedroom is a restful wash of Resene Robin Egg Blue. 

Fun splashes of colour appear in the unexpected form of the hall doors painted in vibrant orange Resene Mexican Wave. The walls are a more demure Resene Linen. 

The kitchen is the focal point of the interior with wide views, out over the property. The front and side walls are in Resene Linen with ceilings in Resene Half Sea Fog.  You can see a glimpse of the Resene Kombi feature wall in the dining area. The living and kitchen spaces all open through stacking sliding doors out onto the large deck. The splashback is Laminex Life Source in natural finish, no 456. 

A dusk shot of the exterior with the various stacking sliding doors that open from the living areas on to the expansive decks.