Just got this email from Cliff, a long time reader in NZ. This is a nice looking home!
“In my surfing looking for New Zealand thatch houses (which are rare) I came across this and thought you might find it interesting. I find I learn a lot from history about the way things were built years ago. In NZ you either made it or you didn’t have it. So using locals materials wasn’t just preference, it was the only option.
Cheers, Cliff
Isn’t the answer self-evident?
I thumbed through a modern architecture magazine yesterday. The cover story was “perfect homes”. Every home was hard, harsh, boxy looking. The worst ones leave the concrete and form tie holes exposed as ‘trendy’. They must sound like a cave inside. One of the worst homes I’ve ever toured was an all-concrete home. It had the worst feeling and worst acoustics.
Not bad for a house of natural materials over 100+ years old.
This looks better than most new homes. Is architecture going downhill?