A fascinating mix of modern rustic and contemporary beach bach, this Omaha Beach home, located north of Auckland embraces the area’s relaxed vibe. The bespoke build was developed as a result of close collaboration between our client and our in-house designer Wendy King. While the client came to their first meeting with a sketched plan, Wendy worked with the client to evolve the design’s look and feel further in the direction of their dram home.  

"Our client had very strong ideas about what she liked, so it was about understanding her needs for the design and making sure she achieved them". She loved the ‘black barn’ look and wanted to utilise this trend through the style of the home, inside and out. “The original design was quite contemporary, so we worked together to bring through more of a country influence an make the spaces more user friendly," Wendy recalls.  

The finished home boasts a sleek all-black finish, accented with crisp white window frames, while the large stone-look chimney is a key focal point, bringing through a refined, stately look often found with country lodges. Connecting the home to its beach-side setting, tussocks, cabbage trees and low-lying ferns wrap around the home, embedded in a rock and crushed shell garden that is punctuated with large stone boulders. Forgoing the traditional front door set-up, double French doors were included under a short verandah to set the relaxed, beachside tone of the home from the outside in.   

Stepping inside the home, it’s clear this beach abode was developed with both work and play in mind. The client is an artist and fashion connoisseur, so she needs a studio space in which she could paint and also a suitable wardrobe to house her extensive collection of clothes. As such, a custom wardrobe was developed in the master bedroom, the corridor-style walk-through wardrobe joins the master suite to a luxurious bathroom, with ample space to store, browse and preserve the client’s extensive collection. 

With the client aiming to host Airbnb visitors at her home and to maintain a level of privacy for family and friends staying over, considerations were made to the design to accommodate this. As such, the main living areas are located on the ground floor. Upstairs, a large bedroom with ensuite and an adjacent art studio – which can be utilised as another bedroom – creates a space fondly known as ‘The Loft’. 

Accessible from both the internal staircase and a private external access way beside the garage, people can come and go from the home without disturbing the homeowners.  

Housing the art studio in The Loft also enabled the client to separate her ‘working space’ from the ‘play’ space, allowing for full relaxation and unwinding downstairs.