Grand Designs New Zealand S09E05
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00:00When you were small, I bet your significant elders took you on adventurous excursions
00:07to appreciate the view.
00:10Except of course, you didn't really appreciate it, did you?
00:14Perhaps you thought, how boring.
00:19Once you get older though, things change and you'll go to great efforts for a good view.
00:26But it's not just the view that attracts us, there's something more at play here.
00:30You see, deep in the human psyche, we're looking for a vantage point to survey our surroundings,
00:36to find safety and security.
00:39And with that high ground, there's more than just a little bit of prestige.
00:44And that's why people want to build like this, often at significant costs.
00:50But architecture should be about stretching the boundaries, reaching for the skies.
00:56If the only thing is, you might just end up with your head in the clouds.
01:03Dunedin is a city of character, of history, of knowledge and learning, all set in a stunning
01:31natural environment.
01:38Jamin Hardestat and Cindy Hall have been living in Dunedin for the last 25 years, a world
01:44away from where they were born and raised.
01:48Indiana is the state that I'm from, which is known as a part of the Bible Belt of the
01:55US and lots of corn and soybean fields and flat as.
02:00Cindy and Jamin met while studying psychology in Washington, DC.
02:04Both graduated with PhDs, but with employment hard to find in the US, they started looking
02:10further afield.
02:14This job came up in New Zealand and I don't think we knew where New Zealand was at the
02:17time, but that definitely sounded like the most exotic place.
02:21I don't think we thought we would stay here like our whole lives.
02:25Before you know it, it's, you know, 25 years later.
02:28They quickly put down roots, buying a villa on the city side of Otago Harbour near Port
02:34Chalmers, starting a family and settling into their careers.
02:42Nowadays Jamin is head of the psychology department at Otago University and Cindy runs a private
02:48clinical psychology practice.
02:50Their two sons have grown up and moved into town, leaving their parents to consider making
02:55a change themselves.
02:59I had this dream when I was a little kid, growing up on a farm, that I was going to
03:03live somewhere with the ocean in front of me and a mountain behind me.
03:08I said to Jamin, I have this idea, what do you think about maybe selling and building
03:17a new house?
03:20Cindy went further, finding a harbourside section for sale at nearby St Leonard's.
03:25Still it wasn't quite her dream site.
03:29I said to Jamin, it's a really beautiful spot, it's really, really nice, but I'd like the
03:33one on the top, because that would be fantastic, wouldn't it?
03:38And then Jamin and I actually hiked up the hill to get up there and looked at the views
03:43and it was just, that was the one.
03:49Cindy and Jamin decided to take the plunge and now there's no going back.
03:54We sold the beautiful villa to partially finance the new house and now we're renting in town
04:00until the house is ready.
04:01I feel like we took this very big risk in a way, I thought we wanted to try something
04:08new, a new kind of adventure for the two of us and so we just went for it.
04:15Their plan hasn't got universal approval though.
04:18The younger members of the family are openly sceptical.
04:22Building an entire house from scratch is a pretty crazy undertaking, even when you're
04:27not sort of working a very, very high intensity job.
04:31I think that it's going to be harder for them than they think it is.
04:45What an astonishing view.
04:47Some very lucky people here.
04:49How are you?
04:52Jamin.
04:53Hi, good to meet you.
04:54You too and Cindy.
04:55Hi, nice to meet you Tom.
04:56Hi, you too and what a fantastic piece of coastline.
04:59I could look at that all day.
05:01Yeah, well that's the plan.
05:02Right.
05:03Not going to leave, ever.
05:04People come to us.
05:05Probably won't be able to afford to leave.
05:08It's a steep site.
05:09Yes.
05:10Yeah, it's very, it's long and narrow.
05:12We designed a version initially that was, that was tall and squat, but it involved taking
05:17out a huge piece of the hill.
05:19So we redesigned and now it's, now it's skinny, but it's a long walk from one end to the other.
05:25Right.
05:26A long house.
05:27Yes.
05:28A long house.
05:30Building a long house here needs a long retaining wall, 80 meters long in fact, and up to four
05:35meters high.
05:37Enter the living wing through an oversized rolled steel front door.
05:41The stud here is a massive 6.3 meters at its highest point.
05:47Showcasing the view is a wall of framed glass in the mountain modern architectural style,
05:52while outside decking runs the length of the whole wing.
05:56A supersized entertainer's kitchen features a four meter long black granite island, a
06:01restaurant style pantry and a cozy breakfast nook right by the view.
06:06A double sided fireplace warms the lounge and Cindy's office library, featuring a domed
06:11ceiling and fresco designed by Sun Percy.
06:15The generous master bedroom with walk-in wardrobe and en suite leads out to a private deck with
06:20a hot tub for two.
06:22The living wing also includes a large laundry, an American style mudroom and a bathroom.
06:28Following the curve of the hill, the garage wing contains a spacious media room, bathroom,
06:34two guest bedrooms, Cindy's music and crafts room and a two car garage.
06:42Cladding is a combination of steel and timber and the gable roof is higher than you'd normally
06:46see in New Zealand.
06:47In fact, everything about this house is big, American big, proving perhaps you can take
06:54the couple out of the US, but not the US out of the couple.
06:59We think we've come up with something that's going to be really cool.
07:03What are the gems for you in this house?
07:06Well, I have to give credit to my sister who had the idea for the domed ceiling.
07:11A domed ceiling in the library?
07:13Yeah, in the library.
07:16We kind of like things that are a little different, a little quirky.
07:19Our oldest kid and one of my friends who's in art school are going to fresco it for us.
07:26So I'm excited about that.
07:28The living room has got a massive open wood fire.
07:32So you hope to spend...
07:33Yeah, I honestly, I don't, I don't know.
07:37We budgeted about 1.4 million.
07:41Really?
07:421.4?
07:43That doesn't seem like enough.
07:46I feel like I'd be really happy if we came in under 1.6.
07:51Under 1.6.
07:52Well, it's a big house.
07:54Yeah.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Good luck with that.
07:57Yeah.
07:58Yeah.
07:59When do you hope to finish?
08:00I'm hoping that 10 months to a year of actual building, of the construction of the house.
08:07That's what I was sort of imagining in my mind.
08:09Okay.
08:10And this is the first house you've built?
08:12Yeah.
08:13First and yeah, and probably only, I'm sure.
08:15Well, you...
08:16I mean, that's our goal.
08:17So a lot of hope, dreams, energy, money.
08:21I think it's an ambitious plan for the budget that you have, but I wish you the very best
08:26of luck.
08:27Thanks.
08:30Bye.
08:31Bye.
08:32Bye.
08:33Bye.
08:34Cindy and Jamin's mountain modern home is going to be quite some undertaking, a complex
08:39design on a steep and exposed site, and it's their first build.
08:45No baby steps here.
08:47It's going to be a bit like trying to climb Everest on your first hike.
08:51I certainly wouldn't be brave enough to do it, but I think these two are.
08:59I want to be supportive at this early stage, but alarm bells are already ringing.
09:05The budget is fantastic, and not in a good way.
09:09And the time frame, 10 to 12 months, is far-fetched.
09:13Bravery alone won't be enough to get these two over the line.
09:17They'll need all the help they can get.
09:21I came to meet Jamin and Cindy through a builder that I know.
09:27He called me up one day and said,
09:28hey, I've got some American clients, they want to do a house up on the hill.
09:33He said, they've got some pretty out-there ideas.
09:36See how you go with them.
09:38And that was the start.
09:40Alison certainly had her work cut out for her.
09:45Because it's such a steep site, we need a massive retaining wall.
09:49And because there's some underlying rock,
09:53we can't do giant round timber piles.
09:58So that left us with doing a gabion basket-type wall.
10:04Any 80-metre-long retaining wall up to four metres high
10:08is a very expensive undertaking, especially on this site.
10:12Even so, when the builder's estimate for the whole project comes through,
10:16it's far beyond what anyone expected.
10:21We had a little bit of a setback.
10:22The estimate turned out to be about $4.3 million.
10:29I just put my head in my hands and went,
10:31oh, how do I bring them back from that?
10:36I actually couldn't believe it.
10:38I was expecting it to be high, but not that high.
10:42I think it was 600 truckloads of dirt they were imagining they would have to take out.
10:46And like 300 truckloads of rocks to bring in
10:50to build the wall that was, at some point, going to have to be four metres high.
10:54So it's like basically building your own mountain to accommodate the house.
11:01I definitely thought, yeah, this is a fantasy,
11:06as opposed to a dream that's going to come.
11:10The figures do not lie.
11:12Cindy and Jamin were hoping to spend no more than $1.6 million.
11:16But $4.3 million is out of the question.
11:21So all options are on the table.
11:24They have to be.
11:26So the idea is that we bring the house up in elevation by about a metre,
11:31so bring it up out of the ground.
11:33Right.
11:34But the other thing we need to do was to slim the house down
11:37so that it stretches across less number of contours,
11:41because the more contours it stretches across,
11:43the more we've got to either dig out or retain it or form a foundation for it at the front.
11:48OK.
11:48So you can see all of this suddenly we don't have to make room for.
11:52Behind.
11:53Behind, that's right.
11:54OK.
11:55So we can just bring that wall down closer to the house.
11:59If anything that reduces the Great Wall of Dunedin is good.
12:04Professionally, I'd be recommending a complete redesign.
12:07Whatever happens, it will have to be radical.
12:11Perhaps you reduce the size of the house,
12:14or you don't build one wing of the house until the following year or something.
12:20Or don't have a garage and a powder room and...
12:22Yeah.
12:24Sadly, it appears the only way to save the project is to demolish the dream.
12:30Like I had named my children before they were conceived,
12:33I also had this house planned, decorated, everything years ago at the beginning.
12:40So it's really, really hard to not even be in a place where we think we can even start.
12:49Yeah.
12:49OK.
12:50I just think it's over.
12:51Like, it's not going to happen.
13:03It's now eight months since I first met Cindy Hall and Jamin Halberstadt
13:07on their section high above Otago Harbour in Dunedin.
13:12And in all that time, there's been no building at all.
13:16Not here, anyway.
13:19All those other people have houses.
13:21Yeah, it does seem like we've fallen behind a bit.
13:24Well, those two hadn't even bought the sections when we bought the section.
13:28I know.
13:29And ours is looking still a little...
13:31There's no house.
13:34There's also no chance of it starting any time soon.
13:38With the builder's estimate of $4.3 million and the couple's budget a mere $1.6 million,
13:44obviously something's got to give.
13:48So far, that hasn't been Cindy.
13:53I can't think of anything I don't want.
13:55Like, we want that cantilevered deck, so we basically are just looking over all that down there
14:00and just straight out to the view.
14:01It's just full view.
14:03Compounding their problems, there's a construction boom going on,
14:08a shortage of tradespeople, and the price of materials is going through the roof.
14:14I guess we could always get a tiny house.
14:18Or maybe a whole village of tiny houses.
14:21No.
14:23For the price of that estimate, we could probably build a little city.
14:27We've got to figure out a way to get the house that we want, James.
14:32But while the lack of progress is frustrating,
14:35one part of the project is providing a welcome distraction.
14:41Where the house actually sits and all around it has been sheep paddock for,
14:46I don't even know, maybe decades, who even knows.
14:48And Jamin and I are really serious about bringing our section back to what it originally was,
14:53what it's meant to be.
14:54We want to have the native plants and the native wildlife all around, so that's the goal.
15:01Inspired by the large scenic reserve above the property,
15:04Cindy and Jamin have prepared a detailed native planting plan.
15:08That could be very expensive, but Cindy, who had a huge garden at her previous house,
15:13aims to do it for next to nothing.
15:17I go around collecting seeds wherever I can and just see what I can grow.
15:23You know, we're not going to change the direction of global warming.
15:27You know, we're not going to repopulate New Zealand in all of its native flora and fauna.
15:32That's disappearing.
15:34But we can do our little bit.
15:36Of course, the priority is actually building on the site.
15:40And that means tough decisions have to be made on reducing the astonishing estimated cost of the whole house.
15:51Advising on how that could possibly be done,
15:54Cindy's mother, aunt and niece are calling in from the United States.
15:59Love you, Jamin.
16:01I would take out the music craft room and that would smooth it up, then make it shorter.
16:06But where am I going to do my crafts?
16:11In the kitchen.
16:12In the kitchen? No, no.
16:14Yes, the bedrooms are...
16:15Clearly, compromise is not a concept Cindy readily embraces.
16:21You know, is there, like, loft space? Yeah, I'm going to...
16:24Well, that was going to be storage.
16:27But you don't need storage.
16:29Anything you put up there, just get rid of it.
16:32You won't see it again after you put it up there anyway.
16:38It doesn't sound like much progress is being made.
16:41It's more an exercise in moral support.
16:44$4.25 million.
16:48$4.25 million.
16:49That's ridiculous.
16:50You shouldn't have to pay that for this very nice house.
16:53I think it's way overpriced on their end.
16:57You're going to get your house, Cindy.
16:59Just hang in there.
17:06By June 2022, it's a full 16 months since I first met Cindy and Jamin.
17:12And, lo and behold, their build is finally underway.
17:17Look, you can see the end of the platform.
17:20Oh, my gosh.
17:23We got building consent, what, like 10 days ago?
17:25Yeah, we finally got building consent.
17:27Little change around of the design along the way.
17:30We have changed the long and skiddy.
17:32We changed a lot of the cladding to aluminium,
17:35which didn't cost as much.
17:36We took a room out and propped it on top of the garage.
17:39We did, yes.
17:40So, he's going to have an office up there
17:42and I'm going to have, like, my craft room up in the loft part.
17:47And a lowering of the wall.
17:49That was the essential thing so that we could actually afford it.
17:51Yeah, so we made it work and...
17:54And it's day two of excavation right now.
17:58The couple have followed architectural designer Alison's idea
18:01to straighten the house and push it all further back on site.
18:06It's also higher out of the ground, so the retaining wall can be lower.
18:09These are big changes that should mean big cost savings, but...
18:15We don't know how much it's going to cost
18:17and we don't know how much money we have, so...
18:21We only got our bank to approve a loan until this July
18:26and then they told us that, actually,
18:28they're going to review it even sooner, so, like, this month.
18:31So, we don't even...
18:33Like, we actually don't even know how much money we can borrow.
18:37Because the site is narrow, with limited access,
18:40the plan's always been to build the living wing first,
18:43then borrow against it for the garage wing.
18:46So, even though the cost estimate for the whole project is astronomical,
18:49Cindy and Jamin can still believe, in time, both wings will be completed.
18:56However, they still have to come up with ideas to save money.
19:00We own the land and this is a place, like, that we can physically live,
19:04like, this actual spot, like, in a camper van, if necessary,
19:07until the whole house is built.
19:10Jamin, I don't know if I can live in a caravan.
19:12Not forever, just for a little while.
19:14Just while they're building.
19:16These are certainly challenging times,
19:18but I wonder how much of that reality is sinking in.
19:30Into the new year and Cindy and Jamin have managed
19:33to secure finance to at least cover the cost of the present work.
19:38Go, guys. Go, guys.
19:42They've even found a builder, close to home too,
19:45Alison's husband, Peter.
19:47The concrete blocks are going to be as tall as this over there.
19:51About 150mm down from there.
19:53Wow. So, it's going to actually start to look like...
19:56Yeah. ..like a big building.
19:58Yeah. Pretty soon. OK.
19:59Come up to the height of what you're leaning on.
20:01It's also a relationship that goes beyond the build.
20:06Cindy and Jamin have moved into one of Peter and Alison's
20:08rental properties, so Peter is now their landlord.
20:14I hope the build goes well.
20:15THEY LAUGH
20:18They'll kick us off the job, we'll evict them.
20:20No, no.
20:22Today, the reinforcing steel for the concrete footings is going in,
20:26but while it's great to see more progress,
20:28the skyrocketing cost of construction is chewing up more of the couple's
20:32budget, and work on this site won't get any easier.
20:42For Cindy and Jamin, access to finance is a major stumbling block.
20:46Hi. Hi.
20:48One of those, please. Yeah, sure. Of course.
20:50They've been forced to face facts.
20:54The garage wing of their house won't be built any time soon.
20:58A radical scything of this project has occurred.
21:01Cindy and Jamin have literally cut the house in two.
21:05Of course, it was always their plan to build the house in two stages,
21:09one after the other, but for the foreseeable future,
21:13until their financial situation improves,
21:15they'll have to settle for a half measure.
21:18The guest bedrooms, the media room, the crafting room,
21:22who knows when that will be built?
21:25They're essentially left with an enormous one-bedroom house.
21:30Now, sometimes getting only half of what you want isn't all that satisfying.
21:37Unless, of course, the half remaining is really good.
21:41We'll see.
21:43MUSIC CONTINUES
21:55It's July 2023, well over two years since I first visited
21:59Cindy and Jamin on their Dunedin section.
22:02It's been a long, slow haul so far on the long, narrow site.
22:08For Cindy, though, the laborious progress is only part of the problem.
22:12MUSIC CONTINUES
22:16How have you been coping?
22:18Not that well.
22:20Yeah, it looks like a public toilet or a bunker,
22:22and neither of those is what I want to live in
22:24or want people to think I'm living in.
22:26But, no, come on, that's just the base, that's just the...
22:28Everything good happens above that.
22:30There's a lot of base there.
22:32Hundreds of thousands of dollars already in that.
22:35You kind of have to do that, particularly on a site like this.
22:38It's always going to be expensive till you get to the status.
22:40I know, everybody told me that.
22:42It doesn't mean that it's not frustrating and, like, yeah.
22:48While Cindy's having trouble coming to terms with the reality
22:51of building in this difficult location,
22:53Jamin is his usual calm and collected self.
22:57And with good reason.
22:58He's not here.
23:00He's on a business trip overseas.
23:04You're obviously relaxed enough to leave the project.
23:08Well, not really.
23:09It makes me a little nervous to see so many work people there at once,
23:13just knowing how much they cost.
23:15Ah!
23:16Am I right? I understand.
23:17Everyone says that it starts happening really quickly now,
23:20now that we're out of the ground, we're officially out of the ground.
23:23Oh, absolutely. Supersonic speed now, of course.
23:26Well, maybe. We'll see.
23:28It's a big house, Jamin, and we're only looking at,
23:31well, half of it, almost.
23:33There's a way to go.
23:38I don't know if Cindy and Jamin's attitude to the build
23:41has changed that much.
23:43Cindy's still impatient, Jamin still pretty much goes with the flow,
23:47and I'm not sure either is the best approach
23:49when building such a complex and expensive house.
23:59What I do know is Cindy and Jamin's motivation
24:02is to build a home to enjoy as a family.
24:05Even though sons Percy and Paxton now live elsewhere,
24:08their dinners together are quite the occasion.
24:11This is why we're going to need a big kitchen,
24:14because we're big people with big ambitions.
24:19Our island is going to be one
24:21that we can put hot stuff straight on and not worry about.
24:26Cindy has carefully planned the interior design and fit-out,
24:30and while she's had to change some elements and materials to save money,
24:34she's determined to be as creative as possible
24:37with what she can afford.
24:40What we want to try to do is not necessarily have to pay
24:44for a bunch of rolled steel items in the house,
24:48because that's really expensive,
24:50but makes the door, all the doors in the house,
24:53look like rolled steel.
24:55The bespoke painter has done up a sample board,
24:59so what he's going to do now is go back
25:02and maybe do, like, a bluish wash over it.
25:05So it's not as warm.
25:07It's rust.
25:10Yeah, they kind of all look the same to me.
25:21One feature of the house that was always going to survive any budget cuts
25:25is the dome ceiling for Cindy's office.
25:28She's keeping some of the work in the family too.
25:31Keen artist Percy is designing the dome's painted fresco.
25:37I think that what we want to go for
25:39is just sort of the illusion of stars on the ceiling
25:43and then have a few little individual details
25:47that my mum wants to focus on,
25:49like, for example, our different star sign constellations.
25:52But I think the main thing is the way that it's going to look.
25:55It looks like you're looking through the ceiling,
25:58sort of kind of creating this very unique space
26:01within sort of the library, I guess, nook.
26:06Percy's working on the dome as well as casting his artistic eye
26:09over the interior design of the whole house,
26:12all the while going through a gender transition.
26:16Getting surgery and things like that,
26:18I tried to sort of plan it around the house-building process
26:23because I didn't want it to get, you know, in the way,
26:26even though it was a really important thing for me,
26:28but it was equally important that, you know,
26:30we didn't all feel like we were being really overwhelmed
26:33by a million things at the same time.
26:36We've definitely sort of figured out where, like, our boundaries are
26:40and what does and doesn't stress us out
26:42and how we interact with each other in the same space,
26:45and that's been really significant
26:47for, like, my own personal development as well.
26:50MUSIC FADES
26:59Rolling on to November 2023,
27:01and the build has steadily progressed all year.
27:04And now the framing is up.
27:06Cindy and Jamin can walk through their house for the first time
27:10and appreciate just how big it is.
27:13You really can get a good idea of what it's like, finally.
27:17Wow, it's going to be so amazing.
27:19And the deck out this way.
27:21I know, I'm very excited about the deck.
27:26As I understand it,
27:27the psychology behind making the studs so high
27:30is to give Cindy and Jamin the space
27:32to relax and unwind away from their busy professional lives.
27:37However, the height has caused a bit of stress for builder Peter.
27:43I actually had quite a fright when I saw how high it actually was.
27:46When you say six metres, yeah, you think six metres,
27:48but when you actually see it, it's high.
27:56The house is now a long way from a bunker,
27:59or, heaven forbid, a public toilet,
28:01and Cindy and Jamin finally appear to be happy.
28:04And no-one's happier about that than architectural designer Alison,
28:08who's here for a lighting meeting with the electrician.
28:12Remember, I'm kind of a lamp person,
28:14so, yeah, not so much bright overhead stuff.
28:19While lamps are pretty standard,
28:21lighting a domed ceiling is something else again.
28:25It's a feature of the house Cindy and Jamin have fought very hard to keep,
28:29and they want it just right.
28:32It's going to be plaster cast,
28:35but not sticking out of the roof.
28:37Fit it into the ceiling, yeah.
28:39But while the finer points are now being discussed,
28:42I trust someone's keeping a close eye on the money.
28:45Cindy and Jamin have taken their house
28:48and literally cut it in half to come in on budget.
28:51It will be devastating if they don't.
29:03It's autumn 2024 at Cindy and Jamin's house.
29:06The framing is all up, the roof is on,
29:09and the windows won't be too far away.
29:11And youngest son Paxton is taking a look around.
29:19Wow, this is pretty big.
29:21It's absolutely massive, and it's all one storey as well.
29:25But I'm a bit worried.
29:27It doesn't look like there's anywhere for me to sleep in here.
29:30There's no bedroom for me.
29:32This entire area is pretty much all my mum and dad's domain.
29:37With Paxton flatting in central Dunedin and Percy in Scotland,
29:41their bedrooms will have to wait until the garage wing is built,
29:45whenever that is.
29:48It's a lot bigger than I'm used to,
29:51a lot more opulent than I'm used to.
29:54I do think it's a little overkill.
29:57I really hope they can enjoy their lives and just relax after this.
30:07Right now, though, Cindy has only one thing on her mind.
30:11The dome ceiling for her library office.
30:17So this is the first coat?
30:19Yep, which is called the face.
30:24To make the dome, the couple have engaged at an Eden company
30:27specialising in fibrous plaster mouldings,
30:30decorative features normally associated with stately homes
30:34and grand traditional buildings.
30:38Because the plaster sets in about 20 minutes,
30:41we've got to keep it moving.
30:44Cindy and Jamin have worked hard to save their dome from budget cuts,
30:48and now it's being made one quarter at a time.
30:53A lot of skill involved, and Dave's probably the best around
30:56to do that sort of work, aren't you, Dave?
30:58You're the best around.
31:00Yep.
31:01I'm going to have the poshest office in the South Island, I think.
31:06The dome is the star of the show, but it needs a rim surrounding it,
31:10and making one is another skilled operation.
31:14Definitely feel stressed.
31:16I don't want to say it too much, cos I don't want to put it on them.
31:20Don't be stressed.
31:22But, like, you wouldn't want to mess this up,
31:24cos then you'd have to start over.
31:27Historically, dome ceilings are associated with classical architecture,
31:32and certainly not with North American mountain modern.
31:36Except, perhaps, in what Cindy has in her mind for her house.
31:43Mountain modern with, just once in a while,
31:46some really, some jewel-like things.
31:48That's kind of the idea.
31:50I want to have spaces that are like, ooh, but just spaces,
31:53not the whole thing.
31:56Yeah, so I think this is going to work perfectly,
31:58especially with the pretty extravagant painting
32:01that's going to be on the dome.
32:09I've timed my visit to witness the dome being installed.
32:13Hopefully, it's something special,
32:15because there hasn't been much to celebrate so far on this build.
32:19Here we are, though, with a house
32:21that's starting to look like it belongs on the hill.
32:24Albeit, only half the house they wanted.
32:28Now, that's a bit better.
32:31Today, the builders are continuing to put the linings on the walls.
32:35Stylistically, a little bit country farmhouse, perhaps,
32:39and yet the huge windows are very industrial.
32:43Whatever's going on with the design, though,
32:45it's easy to be distracted by the amazing view of Otago Harbour
32:49and by the sheer height of this room.
32:53You really have to be in this house to feel the volume.
32:58It's so tall, and this is only half of the house.
33:01I know, I can't even think about... I know.
33:03Do you like it? Do you like the house?
33:05Do I like your house? Yeah.
33:07Gosh, I'd better say the right thing here.
33:10Yeah, I... So, honestly? Seriously.
33:12Seriously? Yeah, seriously. Seriously, here we go.
33:15So, I've been worried about your house,
33:17but you stand in here and it feels lovely.
33:22Yes. You don't need my approval.
33:25But... But you've been waiting for it for the past three years.
33:29And...
33:31But, you know... We're not finished yet. No.
33:34Let's hold that hug for later. Yeah, exactly.
33:38On the library ceiling, the dome is going in quarter by quarter.
33:45Well, that's the theory, anyway.
33:47It's not long enough.
33:50Possibly not the best time for the clients to walk into the room.
33:54Plus that guy off the TV.
33:57So, what's happening?
33:59OK. OK. Piece of cake.
34:02Right. OK, yeah. That's what they're all trained to say.
34:05Piece of cake, no worries.
34:07Everybody look and they smile.
34:09Uh-huh. OK, how's it going?
34:13Needless to say, the quarters do have to line up precisely.
34:17There's only one way this dome goes together.
34:21Well, the truth is, there's a reason why we don't build spheres very often.
34:25Yeah. You know, they're very difficult to construct.
34:28There's no mistakes in art, they're just features.
34:31Ah. Well, that's a good thing to hold on to. OK.
34:34Who needs perfection?
34:36Well, you do.
34:38Well, I'd like us to aim for it,
34:41and then I know we're going to get really good, at least.
34:48OK. No pressure, man.
34:56And before too long, after some patient and expert persuasion,
35:01the four quarters make up the whole.
35:05Woo! Yes!
35:09Yeah, it's always stressful.
35:13Yay! Yay!
35:18We're starting to see the first glimpses of all of those things
35:22that Jamin and Cindy have been dreaming about,
35:25turning this construction shell into a house.
35:28And to be honest, it's a bit of a relief, isn't it?
35:31I mean, it's been some time.
35:33And remember, they've cut their coat to suit their cloth.
35:36They're only getting half of that original dream.
35:39The question is, with their lofty expectations,
35:43will half be good enough?
35:48MUSIC FADES
35:55Try and imagine how Cindy and Jamin are feeling right now
35:59after four long years of wrangling this build.
36:02Countless hours and money spent.
36:05A few highs, but probably a few too many lows.
36:09And remember, we're only going to see an incomplete version
36:13of the house that they wanted.
36:15So how are they feeling right now?
36:17Let's find out.
36:35Well, for half a house, that's a deck and a half, isn't it?
36:40It would grace any good public beauty spot,
36:43which feels appropriate.
36:45Actually, the scale here is amazing.
36:47It could be walking up to a little hut.
36:49But as you approach, it gets bigger and bigger.
36:55Oh, and an enormous front door, of course.
36:59KNOCK AT DOOR
37:01Hey! Hello. Hi.
37:03Cindy, how are you? I'm really good to see you.
37:06Finally. Jamin. Hey, Tom.
37:08Good to see you again. Thank you.
37:10I have to say, this is astounding.
37:20The quality of light, that view.
37:24And I love how the fact that it's so tall,
37:26you sort of forget about ideas of roofs and ceilings.
37:29It floats away and you're just connected with that view.
37:35What I was intrigued to find out was
37:37how do you fit normal-sized furniture in such a big space?
37:40And here, it's all antique,
37:42so there's quite a contrast with the style of the house.
37:45Yeah, I guess that's the mountain part of the mountain modern design.
37:54And this is... Well, it's not an island, is it?
37:57It's a continent. Enormous!
38:00We finally got the chef's kitchen for Jamin.
38:03That was our second big necessity, after the windows.
38:06And this is an intercontinental landing strip of a light.
38:09It's amazing.
38:11It's got these lovely little delicate curved corners and slots
38:14where you get a flash of light through.
38:17That's fantastic.
38:24The size comes at a cost, though.
38:26Literally half the house is kitchen and living.
38:29And there's only one bedroom.
38:31The other two bedrooms planned were in the wing that hasn't been built.
38:35And the only spare space here has a higher purpose.
38:41So here's the library in my office.
38:44What do you think?
38:48I told you, magic!
38:50Yeah, there's a bit of magic. So this is Percy's design.
38:53And what are we looking at? Is that Gemini twins?
38:56Yeah, you're looking at feminised astrological symbols
38:59superimposed on a southern night sky.
39:01It's magic, eh?
39:03It elevates this room, doesn't it?
39:05This is a room for thinkers and stargazers and dreamers.
39:09And this is your desk. Yep.
39:11So this is Cindy's experience. Yep.
39:14Which is...
39:16That's one of contemplation, isn't it?
39:18The earth and the sea, the heavens, a bit of academia.
39:22The only thing is, I don't know how much the computer would be turned on.
39:26That's the only problem.
39:29Each room in the house offers a distinctly different experience.
39:33The living room with its antique furniture,
39:36the kitchen with its industrial look and feel,
39:39and the library office, a study in Victorian style, perhaps.
39:43And the bathroom, well, this is in a category all on its own.
39:48Well, I wasn't expecting this.
39:51The wall covering it, it's a trompe l'oeil, isn't it?
39:54It feels like riveted steel.
39:57Sexy prison cell was what we called it.
40:00Yeah, well, I'll leave that to you to describe.
40:03But, gosh, yeah, yeah, it's a strong look.
40:07Mm, thanks.
40:11The distinctly gridded windows provide another strong aesthetic,
40:15from the social spaces right down to the master bedroom.
40:19With its light and airy en suite,
40:22a big contrast to the bathroom we just left.
40:25Wow, the eyes open again after the dark bathroom, wow.
40:30I feel like we get to appreciate the bush a lot from this room.
40:34It's almost coming in.
40:36It is, it's growing towards you, isn't it?
40:38It's four years of growth there.
40:40Ooh, yes.
40:42There'll be a hot tub out here eventually.
40:45But until then, there's more gazing.
40:48Yeah, we can just stand and look.
40:50It's been a real journey through this house.
40:53Very different feelings in all the rooms and very stimulating.
40:58Thanks, well, we love it.
41:06Do you know what I'm curious about?
41:09Is that you've got this great house,
41:11but you got here through a process that was quite the opposite.
41:15It was, you know, financially terrifying at times,
41:18lengthy, and so is this just one big psychological experiment
41:22with you two as the test subjects?
41:25Is that what's going on?
41:27It could seem that way in retrospect, I agree,
41:31but it wasn't meant to be that way.
41:33I think it was harder for me,
41:35and Jamin was amazing balance to my stress and impatience
41:39and frustration about how long things took.
41:43The steadying influence in the storm.
41:50There was a sense that you were also diving
41:52into quite a lot of unknown territory with budget,
41:55which was tiny, then massive, building on a hill.
41:58All of the things that you don't understand until you do it.
42:01Yeah, totally.
42:03There was that horrible 4.25, 4.3 million figure
42:06that meant you had to rethink quite drastically.
42:10Quite drastically.
42:12And so we now have a really big one-bedroom house.
42:16You're family people. Where are you going to put them?
42:19Well, Paxton just slept on the couch the other night,
42:22so he didn't really love it.
42:24I think that they'll be happy when Stage 2 happens and there's a place.
42:27Well, let's talk about that, Stage 2. So it is going to happen.
42:30Yeah.
42:31So how does that work? How much have you spent to date?
42:34We haven't gotten the final invoice,
42:36but I believe it'll be about £2.1 million on what we've done so far.
42:41And so the next part...
42:43We have an estimate from Alison and Peter of about £800,000
42:48for the addition.
42:50It will depend on what we can negotiate from the bank
42:54and if we need to, we'll change the design.
43:02I would say enjoy this part.
43:05You've got to where you want to be. Soak in what you have.
43:08And hopefully those four years will be just a distant memory.
43:12Looking forward, right?
43:14Everyone who comes here is just...
43:17First they're stunned and then they feel calm.
43:20Add me to that list.
43:22And, like, how could you want anything more?
43:30This house, for me, represents an intriguing dichotomy
43:34Cindy and Jamin were more than a little naive
43:37about what it would take to build this house
43:39but at the same time, as it turns out,
43:41entirely resolved in the idea of the home
43:44and what it would be like.
43:46Yeah, they fought the battles, didn't they?
43:48I mean, at this stage where the budget costings came back
43:51at three times what they wanted to spend,
43:53most people would have rightly folded, compromised,
43:56pulled back, built something simple.
43:58But they didn't.
44:00OK, so phase two. Let's call that a rain check.
44:03But play this one out
44:05and they will get the home they've dreamt of, the ideal home.
44:09And for me, that resolve is truly inspirational.
44:15A bit like the view.
44:33MUSIC CONTINUES