A North Canterbury family returns to their roots, and builds a forever home with the help of Archco Architecture and Coldstream Builders.

WORDS Kathy Young PHOTOGRAPHY Stephen Goodenough

For Aleasha Dearsley, growing up on the family farm in the wide, expansive landscape north of Ōtautahi Christchurch, there was always the sense that she would return one day. She and her husband Simon Dearsley spent 14 years living and working overseas, but she could never quite let go of the idea of returning here one day.

“I always dreamed of raising our kids on the farm,” says Aleasha. Covid-19 made that dream feel more urgent, and in 2020, with two young children just starting school, they came home.

The original plan was to build a cabin-style retreat from which they could work remotely – a toe-dip back into New Zealand life while keeping their options open. But as the pandemic dragged on and it became clear the move was going to be a more permanent one, the brief evolved into a substantial barn-style family home, with four bedrooms and a built-in work-from-home studio, all using natural materials.

For their design direction the couple took inspiration from Finnish summer homes, and modified that to suit the local landscape. This Nordic influence remains a thread throughout: the earthy palette, natural materials, and an architecture that sits as close to the land as possible.

Gareth Ritchie, director at Archco Architecture, was a good match for the couple, who had strong ideas about what they wanted. “Gareth provided a great design, as he understood what we needed for our family home,” says Aleasha. “He’s very practical, approachable and down to earth.”

The starting point for Gareth was a cluster of simple gabled pavilions across the site.

“It’s essentially a modern farmhouse, but the design for the 410sqm home needed to reflect the scale and rhythm of agricultural buildings throughout the North Canterbury landscape, without dominating,” says Gareth. The staggered forms and carefully designed landscape plan mean that the home is grounded and sits well on the land. All the joinery, including the kitchen units and cupboards, was completed by Lyall Park Joinery. The result is a functional and stylishly sophisticated space, made to a very high standard.

All the joinery, including the kitchen units and cupboards, was completed by Lyall Park Joinery. The result is a functional and stylishly sophisticated space, made to a very high standard.

Sustainability was central from the outset. The building’s external envelope uses 190mm timber frames (not the standard 90 or 140mm). This allows the windows to be set back flush with the structural frame.

The result is pronounced internal and external reveals that create visual depth and improve the thermal performance of the home. “We wanted to make the house as insulated as possible,” says Gareth, “And the skylight element draws in natural light deep into the centre of the home and connects the stairs and the upper-level living spaces.” Solar panels, integrated discreetly within the roofscape, complete the picture.

The material palette is earthy and natural, and again, chosen in collaboration with Aleasha and Simon. The vertical Abodo timber cladding was selected for the evenness with which it weathers over time, and the Canterbury Clay Bricks provide grounding weight, and crucially, they reappear in the landscaping. This serves to stitch the house and garden areas together through the shared material.

Coldstream Builders, under the leadership of Curtis Dyer, was recommended to the Dearsleys through a mutual friend.

“This build required the highest attention to detail and collaboration with the architectural designer, and our network of professional tradespeople,” says Curtis. “It’s a relatively simple design, but complex in its construction details.”

That complexity included all the finer details, such as flat roofs, pitched roofs, steel portals and floor-to-ceiling windows with no reveals. Then there was the internal fireplace and day-bed joinery, alongside the timber-clad wall with a hidden door to the internal garage. These stairwell lights are Danish ombré pendant lights from Accent Lighting, which feature glass shades that transition from white to smoky grey, adding visual interest and texture.

These stairwell lights are Danish ombré pendant lights from Accent Lighting, which feature glass shades that transition from white to smoky grey, adding visual interest and texture.

RK Decorators completed the painting and decorating, including the painting of a feature wall in the master bedroom, which was inspired by a concept Aleasha had seen. Although the decorators had never attempted such a wall before, Aleasha was delighted with the result.

The Dearsleys were delighted with their choice of builders, as they found the build process with Coldstream to be incredibly collaborative. “It was just like building with friends,” says Aleasha. “None of our project requests were ever a problem, and they were always flexible.” The build spanned a little under 15 months in total, with Covid-related supply issues requiring some design changes along the way.

“Aleasha and Simon were great to work with,” says Curtis. “They knew what they wanted and communicated clearly. Our team of four builders thoroughly enjoyed the project.”

Inside the home, the design-loving homeowners have been able to create a home that feels like an accurate representation of who they are and how they like to live. With pops of colour, furniture and artwork all telling the story of their past and their present, it’s a cosy home and layered in textures and style. Every room frames a different view, whether it’s the Port Hills, a stream on the property or trees that Aleasha climbed as a child.

It’s become a home that feels both sheltered and outwardly connected to its environment, and one that will serve the next generation of this family well.