This simple-yet-elegant house comprised of dark gabled forms has been rigorously planned and meticulously built. Sited on a plateau under Te Mata Peak, the house reads from a distance as a vernacular form in a rural landscape. Inside, however, the architect has clearly considered – and attended to – all the elements required for well-ordered family life, no matter what the season, with an outdoor room off the kitchen, a courtyard garden connected to the entry and a library bay window providing delightful interludes within the planning.