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  • 6/1/2025
Grand Designs NZ (2025) S09E06

Grand Designs NZ (2025) S09E07 >>> https://dai.ly/x9l14fu
Transcript
00:01Life can be a bit of a balancing act, can't it?
00:05Built of all the critical elements that make it enriching, worthwhile.
00:12Demanding jobs, demanding kids, and your partner.
00:19Making sure that you're giving them the right care and attention.
00:25Looking after your own health.
00:30Time for family and friends.
00:34A hobby you enjoy.
00:40Maybe even a side hustle.
00:45What else?
00:47How about a bespoke architectural build?
00:57Beautiful.
01:00But what happens if one of those elements goes awry?
01:06The Kiwi Dream and the beach go hand in hand.
01:12Like sand and sea.
01:13Kids and cricket.
01:14Fish and chips.
01:18Fish and chips.
01:19As the summer days roll on and on.
01:2445 minutes drive from busy, built-up Wellington.
01:25This is Paraparaumu Beach on the Carpity Coast.
01:27Offering the promise of a new life.
01:29The Kiwi Dream and the beach go hand in hand.
01:31The Kiwi Dream and the beach go hand in hand.
01:33Like sand and sea.
01:34Kids and cricket.
01:35Fish and chips.
01:36As the summer days roll on and on.
01:37And on.
01:3845 minutes drive from busy, built-up Wellington.
01:39This is Paraparaumu Beach on the Carpity Coast.
01:43Offering the promise of a new life for families like Bridget and Graham Clark and their three
01:44girls.
01:45Go, go.
01:46Beat, beat.
01:47Go.
01:48Where are we going?
01:49To Losbegons.
01:50Where are we going?
01:51To Losbegons.
01:52A tractor?
01:53Yeah, an tractor.
01:54Good.
01:55This is a place we've quite often come to not far out from where we live.
01:56Beep, beep, beep.
01:57The boat's broken down.
01:58We've really enjoyed the climate, really enjoyed the beach atmosphere and it's got a
01:59friendly vibe to it and everything.
02:00It's been, it's been a great vibe.
02:01You've been to the beach, so you've been to the beach.
02:02We've been to the beach, so we've been to the beach.
02:03I've been to the beach.
02:04Let's go.
02:05To the beach.
02:06This is the beach.
02:07To the beach.
02:08To the beach.
02:09To the beach.
02:10To the beach.
02:11To the beach.
02:12To the beach.
02:13To the beach.
02:14really enjoyed the climate really enjoyed the beach atmosphere and it's got a friendly vibe to
02:18it and everything the clerks live in wellington where bridget is a partner at a busy recruitment
02:24consultancy and graham is part owner of a nationwide cleaning company our household's
02:30pretty busy we have quite demanding children no i mean yes we get there yeah we're pretty good at
02:38it yeah let me try to have some fun along the way yeah yeah yeah they built what they intended to be
02:43their forever home in 2017 on a typically steep wellington hillside but soon discovered that
02:50magnificent harbour views came at quite a price we definitely caught the wind a little bit here
02:56we woke up one morning and noticed the spa cover was about 100 meters down the bank there
03:02part of our couch is over there somewhere no backyard or beach cricket for the three girls here
03:08their playground is a cold concrete driveway bridget and graham want more for their kids
03:14and themselves so the decision has been made they're moving to para para umu
03:20i think the aim is that we want to feel a bit more connected we'll embrace the community and get
03:25amongst it and enjoy it so we're building a forever home again aren't we a forever forever home this will
03:30be a forever home we're done i'm done we're done now this may look like a pretty typical suburban street
03:42but hiding somewhere here behind these bushes is one of the more unusual building sites you'll see
03:47it's just uh i don't know how to get there maybe down here
04:03tom hi hi nice to meet you right hi yes graham graham nice to meet you you too so you bought a tennis
04:10court yes we have not a particularly green tennis court uh and a bit difficult to have a game of tennis
04:16but yes we have and there is a swimming pool over the back there too oh right okay yeah so why did
04:20you buy this it's a very good question i do ask myself that sometimes uh lifestyle lifestyle by the
04:28beach you know by the parks you know on the flat on the flat to the cafes and walk to the park plus you
04:32got a great nice little view to the golf course and graham is a golfer so yeah i'm sure he'll be
04:37i'm an amateur golfer i'll play a bit more i'm sure when i'm here with the kids with the kids we'll see
04:42we'll see yeah okay so where's the house going to be we are we going to be in the somewhere along
04:48here court somewhere here yeah it's the build actually goes from the road and it runs along
04:52kind of this side of the of the section and down to down to the pool area the pool was a big draw for
04:59the clerks but at the moment it's more of a draw for local amphibians well it's quite a feature isn't
05:07it it is yeah so you already have the pool uh you're just hoping that it's in a good condition
05:14yeah we don't know if it works at the moment but we'll give it a crack yeah the water looks a bit
05:19green yeah clean up give it a claim get the frogs out this is where we'll be a lot of the time so
05:26that's the lifestyle that's the dream dream big absolutely yeah yeah unless you're playing golf
05:30at least i'm playing golf by myself with the children yeah yeah there's some different of
05:35opinion there no golf for a while though and no tennis either with the court ripped up for a concrete
05:43pad that pretty much fills the section between the elevated road and what will be the renovated pool
05:50on the ground floor a guest suite three bedrooms for the girls a media room bathroom and laundry all
05:55run off a long hallway that ends in a high stud dining room and galley style kitchen with walk-in
06:01pantry and tucked in behind a lounge that opens out to the deck and pool up internal stairs to the top
06:08floor where the master bedroom gets the morning sun there's also a walk-in wardrobe ensuite home office
06:16and a two-car garage walk around to the front door on a covered gantry glimpsing the garden below
06:22through the timber rain screen providing subtle privacy the girls have their cherished backyard
06:28play space while family and friends can all enjoy the covered outdoor entertaining area and the pool
06:34with the original rubble stone wall this large long modernist home occupies most of the site while
06:42making good use of the outdoor space that is available giving the clerks the lifestyle they seek
06:47and their long-awaited forever home when do you start next week hopefully yeah all going well diggers
06:57will be here next week and then you finish when 12 months october 24 12 months to build a house 360
07:05square meters it'll be busy 12 months it will be for the builders yeah yeah you've done this before you've
07:12built before but you go into this with enthusiasm and excitement or do you go into this with some
07:16experience and a little bit concerned yeah yeah yeah about what about everything about the cost i
07:24think it's the cost and how much you have to spend it's a very good question 2.1 we have 2.1 to build
07:31this and how much was the section we paid 915 000 for it so three million ish all in i can see why
07:40you have a level of anxiety and this is really the dream and this is what we want so now or never we've
07:45really got to find a way um and that's involving what you sell the the current house yeah current
07:50house goes on the market february 2024 hope for a good price you're all in then yeah but it is the
07:57forever home second time around yes correct second forever yep so what have we got here well maybe the
08:09world's most expensive tennis court outside of wimbledon but that's not the biggest cost there's
08:14another 2.1 million dollars to spend on top of that and a house to sell all within this condensed
08:2012-month period now that's a high stakes game in anybody's book but with high stakes come great rewards
08:30hopefully
08:37however the challenges here are not just financial the long low site and the old swimming pool are
08:43constraints that any design will have to take into account a conundrum for architectural designer mike
08:50homes to sort out
08:51they had a high expectation of what they wanted for their home it has five bedrooms multiple living
09:00spaces its own study so with the constraints of the site it was a bit like tetris that sort of
09:06fit all those things in in a logical way one of mike's first decisions was putting the garage on the top
09:12level next to the master bedroom we couldn't have an easy turning circle so we tried to make that as
09:18efficient as possible by having it up at street level and then all the spaces sort of float on from
09:24there but with the garage at one end and the pool at the other this house has to stretch almost the
09:31entire length of the section so not much room for the garden the clerks also want it's a bold
09:39architectural response to the constraints of the site and the test will be whether the house feels
09:45bound by those boundaries or sits gracefully within them
09:53just two weeks after my first visit and its action stations
10:02today's a big day the diggers are rolling in
10:06we hand over to the builders to do their part and deliver us the house and hopefully 12 months
10:11this is a day that came perilously close to not happening at all since the clerks bought their
10:18section in 2021 there's been a seismic shift in the new zealand housing landscape
10:24the sharply increasing cost of building materials and higher interest rates caused the market to slump
10:31that put graham and bridget in a very tight spot indeed
10:34we looked at selling the section we looked at redesigning the house making it smaller
10:42we were in no man's land for a while there we put consent on hold the bank wasn't giving us the
10:48finance yeah there was a good few months where we were really unsure yeah and then we decided to
10:53press go and build the house that we wanted and here we are today full commitment seems to be a
11:01quality that characterizes the clerks the diggers here so there is no turning back we're away
11:08beginning a project with a budget already stretched so fine is a daunting proposition
11:14if only that was all this couple had to worry about
11:21this is bridget and graham's wellington investment property
11:2515 months after it was hit by a landslide
11:28such a mess i hate coming here this is what keeps me up at night at the moment
11:36trying to figure out a way they had hoped to get the repairs done before they started building
11:41parapara umu but the difficult logistics of this very awkward job left those plans stuck in the mud
11:48in the mud no one wants to run to construction projects at one time what we got paid for insurance
11:55you know it's been a year now uh costs have gone up you know to do this kind of work um you know
12:02so that could blow out as well and and and quite frankly we we probably don't have the money for it
12:09you know it's financially crippling right there's now finally a plan to start repair work but there's
12:17still a big question mark over how long that could take and how much it could cost yeah i've seen this
12:23from all that don't worry about wiping your feet i come here a bit but bridget i'm trying to avoid it
12:32yeah it's tough yeah i'm just kidding yeah we're lucky that it's not a fan we have
12:38clearly the clerks thrive when taking on challenges but come on two building projects
12:44two demanding jobs three demanding kids and a budget already stretched to the limit this game has
12:51only just started and they're already at break point
13:06just one month after breaking ground at parapara umu graham and bridget's tennis court is a distant memory
13:13replaced by a chaos of reinforcing steel and dirt
13:20it's the day of the main concrete pour on schedule impressive progress
13:26trackers drop on one of you guys trucks maybe grab a couple more yeah will mowbray is the lead builder
13:33aiming for completion in just 12 months and he's not short of confidence there are too many challenges
13:40on this job um well that would be famous last words on tv wouldn't it um
13:47and of course the first challenge is not too far away yeah hey tracy
13:55yes i was just trying to say yeah it is stuck
13:59yeah in trying to avoid falling down a big hill the truck fell down a smaller one
14:05the house is also a leap of faith for the clerks
14:19yeah let me just walk into it yeah parapara umu is a completely new adventure but the possibilities
14:27and opportunities here resonate deeply in graham's memory i grew up very similar to this and so
14:35everything was flat it was accessible beam extract down the road yeah farms not far away yeah and the
14:41weather was good as well so it's just freedom just had freedom and that's uh yeah that's what we want
14:46for for the girls
14:51it's becoming very clear they won't achieve that by staying in wellington
14:59we have to drive everywhere don't we yeah we have to we have to pretty much drive everywhere and
15:03the there's a hill directly outside our house and uh you can't yeah it puts the kids off and hopefully
15:10that is more outdoors just get them out of the house get them doing things get them off tv
15:24what are you guys looking forward to about moving up here up getting a dog obviously
15:29yeah what about the beach i'm really going to the beach and do we like that we can go on so many
15:35more back right here and we can play outside much more because of the weather you know
15:40have a deck back question he picked us some fish yeah i could do some fishing how does that sound
15:45we could go bodyboarding oh yay i love bodyboarding then those will play golf when we move out i think
15:51i want to start junior golf yes oh really okay you could go out with dad dad could take all three
15:56girls out for gold every other day i'll tell you what half will do half will just knock it through the hole
16:07into the new year the build continues at a fast clip at this rate the 12-month deadline
16:13feels very achievable the ground floor block work and framing is pretty much done
16:19and today steel portals are going up completing the basic shape of the house
16:24and letting bridget and graham imagine the good times ahead
16:30the island will go here yeah around about yeah um but nice new windows there right
16:35this will be the heart of the home this is where we'll spend the most time having the doors here to
16:40get out to the pool or better yet to be outside with friends around the barbecue and the outdoor fire
16:46kitchen bench graham will be spending a lot of time here prepping food
16:57there's been great progress here no question but the financial situation is a different story
17:04money well money's going out it's where it's going money's going out
17:08and the interest is going up yeah yeah uh yeah we're watching it closely we've got our
17:14on track spreadsheet at home and um but you know the next few months probably going to be the challenge i
17:19think
17:27the clark's finances are stacked up like a house of cards the foundation those cards are stacked on
17:34is the sale of their current home today it's going under the hammer and they've bravely allowed me to
17:40eavesdrop at the option right now i'm feeling very nervous all week and what do you want to get for the
17:48house so we don't think we're going to get it two million so you're not hopeful no and what does that
17:58mean do you need to we could probably go settle for a little bit less not too much less but um
18:04we've got to walk away so yeah see what the agent can do well good luck thank you thanks tom cheers
18:13it's a simple equation every dollar below that hope for two million is another dollar they'll owe to
18:19the bank but with a housing slump nationwide and no sign of interest rates coming down
18:25this is a bad time to sell send me away start me away on an avenue but nothing off work where do we
18:30say go here we go and we get 450 000 as we kick the melodies off and underway buyers of course happy
18:36for a mere hundred thousand on top minus a busy way to 1.55 or a billion 450 000 buyers once
18:43minus twice so i pulled it away at the million 450 000 to bidding buying at one all the time
18:52please do what i suppose back very shortly that day on those discussions thank you so that was it
18:59yeah yeah okay i'm no auctioneer but that did sound like a very short bidding war
19:05we're well off at the moment yeah so what was the bid one four five yeah here we go
19:16okay we're going to turn this off mate okay we'll have to leave the complete yes understood all right
19:21okay thanks mate cheers see you
19:27well goodness i mean that is not the starting point is it that's not what you want they're more than half a
19:33million dollars away from what they wanted let's hope this agent is a good negotiator
19:49a few days after the option of bridget and graham's wellington home
19:53i wonder how the chips have fallen so to speak i'm anticipating a fairly somber welcome
19:59hello hello hello come on in welcome pleasantries aside there's only one question on my mind
20:07it's what happens to the auction we'll be sold yeah we sold under pressure yeah but um yeah we got
20:15close to our minimum so we're happy enough with that so what was the figure graham uh 1.755 and you
20:22wanted two million didn't you bridget yes minimum was 1.8 so we were close we were close enough yeah
20:29we're hoping that we can still have the outdoor kitchen finished i can still have my fireplace in
20:34the lounge i think there's bits and pieces i can do as well you know so over the next couple of months
20:39i'll chip in and do the deck do the deck the pool empty the pool paper pool but there's this growing
20:46list now for graham there is the to-do list has got longer yeah how do you feel about that graham
20:51find it quite stressful at times there's definitely been times where i've i've had a bit of a meltdown
20:56here and there and and uh you know get a bit anxious about things and um but yeah really i just got
21:02to get on with it and we're and we're in a fortunate position to be doing this right to be able to build
21:08our home so we can never lose sight of that
21:11well there's certainly a huge number of working parts at play here and uh just one of those going
21:23wrong leads to a chain reaction doesn't it fortunately at the moment the most important
21:28part the build is tracking okay but gosh don't they just need it to carry on like that
21:34the good news is it's doing just that
21:44two months later and the first floor framing is finished
21:47pre-cladding works have started and there's even a roof
21:55but today's focus is on the great outdoors where graham and bridget want their girls to spend so much of
22:00their time it was like a little secret garden wasn't it before you had to squeeze under i know
22:07i know rebecca wilson is the landscape architect charged with delivering the dream
22:15when i come onto a site and i look at a plan i'm always going how can i make people love being
22:21outside how can i make them live outside it's not just something for me that people look at
22:27there has to be magic outside however so much of that depends on the site and especially the sun
22:35and that's where the problems lie the road is on the western side you've got to have a driveway and
22:42a garage on the western side three and a half meters above floor so it's it's a perfect storm for a bad
22:51afternoon scene in the garden and then to add to the confusion you never normally put a pool
22:57on the eastern side of a house because it only gets morning sun afternoon when everyone comes home
23:01from work it's very difficult there's no easy solution and it's a a series of compromises in a
23:08way and wriggling to make it work with no afternoon sun in what's proposed to be the main garden area
23:18rebecca has cast her expert eye elsewhere and found a spot that's potential has been overlooked
23:27this was going to be the service yard the architects had a toilet here and a door going
23:32into the laundry and there was a screen coming out here and a few gas bottles yeah there was a bit
23:37of a reshuffle required so now we've turned it into a a very valuable i think courtyard space which
23:43gets all the afternoon sun you know north is over there so from two or three o'clock onwards till
23:48about six or seven o'clock this is going to be a really lovely little space for the family to come
23:53out and enjoy the afternoon sun so we got rid of the clothesline we got rid of that screen and what a
23:58super solution it is your influence is feeling its way creeping into the house like a like a vine or
24:04something you know i'm looking at more they are able to creep out i mean doesn't look like much at the
24:09moment but what's the space yeah right rebecca's challenge now is to transform this previously
24:17unloved little space into a magical outdoor experience no pressure then it can be done of
24:25course and here at one of the country's most famous gardens it's been achieved on a grand scale
24:31this is air leads at whitford in east auckland where owner and gardener beverly mcconnell and architect
24:37jeff newman have created a house and garden that are a perfect match so what makes this place and
24:44the interaction between the architecture and nature so successful my focus is instantly drawn to that
24:50window so i want to explore engage out the door and down into a space that's perfect for morning coffee
25:01east facing semi-enclosed if this was west facing i'll be in shadow i wouldn't want to be here
25:10there is vitality and views in all directions and i'm drawn onwards to the sunny northern elevation
25:18where the pool connects seamlessly with the home itself
25:21so what do we have here well we have carefully considered static architectural space but meeting
25:33dynamic nature and the two talking to each other empowering each other but there's a final ingredient
25:41here there's a touch of magic early's is a long established garden on a magnificent site something
25:51rebecca can only dream of but despite having limited space and limited sun she knows every opportunity to
25:58create viable outdoor living areas must be taken
26:02the chill of winter in parapara umu might be in the air but progress on this build is red hot
26:16the roof is on and the ceiling framing is almost complete
26:23today the windows go in a great milestone that means the builders can work in a completely enclosed building
26:32so it's a big step forward
26:41but back in wellington there's been a big step backwards the repair of graham and bridget's rental
26:46property was finally underway until disaster struck again last night we got a lot of rain in wellington
26:55and uh yeah that's obviously caused all this loose soil to head downhill
27:00into the holes that were drilled 55 tons of earth that came down in the original landside
27:07had been carried away now all that hard work has been buried heartbreaking
27:15the other day when i came down here this was all a paved courtyard that we used to have and it was all
27:20clear so pavers under there somewhere so you know this has all happened in the last 24 hours
27:26it's not ideal the cost of salvaging this rental property will almost certainly have financial
27:34repercussions for bridget and graham's new build this continuing disaster is the last thing they need
27:41and has the potential to bury all of their dreams
27:58it's a cold winter's day in para para umu but bridget and graham's forever forever home has a snug new jacket
28:07it's now clad with sleek black metal and textured black timber
28:12interior linings are moving along too it's been a nice space hey yeah it will be i'm looking forward
28:18to seeing the wallpaper they're on the home stretch daring to dream of a finished home
28:25this will be all lunar wood yeah right oh yeah true yeah really decent size yeah it is yeah and i like this
28:34out here this door that we had many conversations about yes yes so graham wanted this shut off
28:42but i really wanted to be able to be in the kitchen and feel connected to the outside whereas you
28:49didn't get that at all no i don't know why and even the architect wanted to close yeah the architect
28:57wanted to close as well yeah i'll give her this one i'll take it yeah so i can tell the kids from in
29:04here to stop jumping off off the brick wall they're not going to jump off the brick wall in contrast to
29:11the light and open entertainment area the hallway is long and a little moody it is a long dark
29:19way but but i think a bit of color on the walls yeah i think i think we'll be fine it'll be all right
29:26oh i just want to be done i just want to be in i just want to be done
29:34fatigue certainly seems to be setting in for bridget and graham is also feeling the combined
29:39effect of managing the budget overspend the rental property rebuild and a nationwide cleaning business
29:46as well as taking on a lot of diy to save money on the new build
29:50it is a little bit stressful the debt levels are high high higher than it we probably anticipated
29:59i think it's just there'll be a few things that we will may have to do ourselves i think and may
30:05not be able to do right now yeah may not be able to do right now which is which is okay i think we just
30:10face facts and we don't we might not have the cash for it so reality there is no turning back on what
30:18we've done now so we just need to be confident that we've made the right decision
30:33the house is now transforming into its final form but the garden is feeling pretty boxed in between
30:40the boundary the outdoor living area and the bank that was once the vehicle access it's under threat
30:46of being overwhelmed but fortunately it has a champion in the form of rebecca who i find in the middle
30:53of it all rising to the challenges such as the plastic water tanks that are going to double as a fence
31:02that's what we're dealing with and um what a disaster the water tank fence will run the length of
31:11the whole garden beautiful no but clever yes the alternative to having to bury a large round water
31:18tank you don't like those then they're the most hideous fence that i have ever seen okay don't mince
31:25your words good yeah yeah they told me that those fence that was going to look like a fence right it does
31:34not look like a fence no it looks like an ugly plastic gray thing with holes in it the other
31:40problem is the house itself its width covers a lot of what is already a narrow site the house is coming
31:48at us quite a lot it is big and black we've got a bit of a conflict here they want maximum space for
31:55lawn for the children to play on and yet there's a huge need to soften the building the boundaries
32:01the wall um and create some atmosphere down here without taking up too much space i mean the easy
32:08thing is to whack a deck along there and then put a pot in each corner but i'm not that kind of person
32:12okay for inspiration rebecca has turned to an old favorite of hers gardens from a long time ago and a
32:20long way away i've always loved the um paradise garden the persian islamic all those gardens which were
32:30developed in a very inhospitable climate they may have deserts they may have sandstorms they may have
32:37marauding bunches of crusaders whatever but their little paradise garden was their little enclave and
32:43i really thought we could do something like that here and create that little feeling of being a totally
32:50different world so we're not going for anything particularly local here this is a little bit of a
32:57sort of an escape from that you've looked at the challenges and and the problems and sort of turn
33:02them on their heads so they become an opportunity yes well that's always what we have to do isn't it
33:07really well i think that's where designers work best yes rebecca's got her work cut out for her
33:16turning carpeti coastal water tanks and black aluminium into a persian inspired garden can't wait to see the results
33:27just a few short weeks later and i'm back again and aside from wooden linings on a few feature walls
33:35this house is tantalizingly close to completion painting has begun into the white white walls everywhere
33:46there's just six weeks to go before the move-in date
33:49time to catch up with bridget and graham if i can find them keeps going on
34:02hey hey how are you busy yep always busy mate always the frog pond has been drained to be turned
34:11into a princely pool i'll give you a mop nice to see you welcome yeah yeah sure well there's not much
34:16left to do is there there's a bit more involved than uh painting and pool than than i thought yeah
34:21yeah it's not the biggest sander in the world is it look at that i mean no this is my 40 sander
34:25that i brought yesterday so i'll be here till midnight the time-consuming task of repainting
34:33the fiberglass is just one of a growing list of jobs so six weeks yeah six busy weeks six busy weeks
34:42yeah a bit of carpet to lay a bit of carpet to lay yeah to pull the paint pull the paint does that feel
34:48good to to be able to be hands-on yeah yeah i like it i like doing things like this but yeah it also
34:54saves us money at the in the long run right i i sort of wonder whether you're putting in a bid for
34:59new zealand's next great walk which is the walk up your corridor you know you really feel the length of
35:04this building here you've got some ideas of indoor cricket don't you yeah yeah perfect yeah yeah
35:10the structure do 100 meter race yeah yeah yeah you visibly you're sort of giving off the vibes that
35:16gosh come on when does this finish but amongst all of that what are the things that really
35:20you know really worry you oh it's money so it's having to make sacrifices i don't want to move in and
35:27think i don't like this no you don't i don't want that yeah i do feel like there's there is light there
35:32i do feel like we're close that we're close and we can breathe afterwards yeah i don't know what's
35:38next because i'm sure there's something that bridget has no we'll just be relaxing yeah summer
35:43summer is what's next summer in the pool that's a good thing to do yeah yeah summer in the pool
35:51bridget and graham have taken on an almost unbelievable workload and a budget stretched to
35:56the limit and actually it seems like they might just pull through on schedule
36:02i just hope that they end up with a house of their dreams and not a bank balance of their nightmares
36:17so here we are then about to lift the lid on graham and bridget's new lifestyle here on the coast
36:23and the basic ingredients were good weren't they a romantic old tennis court with a swimming pool near a
36:29golf course near the sea but very quickly those elements met resistance a long skinny sunken
36:38section facing the wrong way with a swimming pool in the wrong place and a big house that pretty much
36:44filled that section leaving very little space for that long for outdoor engagement quite a few design
36:52issues then have they been solved
37:04a mysterious black box very neatly finished black black surround black roof but here look
37:20i'm enjoying this shadow play through the fine slatted timber screen and pops of emerald green below
37:28hey hey hey tom how are you going i'm very good how are you yeah good thanks welcome good to have
37:35you here nice to see you you're looking very vibrant oh thank you trying to match the outside oh it's working
37:40come on and have a look exterior dark cladding on the inside yes yeah it's quite a bold move but we're
37:51happy with it yeah bringing some of the outside in and that must be the best piece of artwork you could ever
37:57have yeah straight to the hills stunning oh i love this staircase side lit guiding us down
38:13ah it's a great space well i think it's the first time i've seen the pool with water
38:20that's not green and full of frogs and it's glorious yes yeah no it looks very different to last time you
38:25were here yeah it's so inviting it feels very calm here i think it's the blonde timber here and that's
38:34stone the brass yeah no we're really happy with how it looks there's a cohesion here and really beautifully
38:42finished everywhere come on out well you finished this place just in time didn't you summer by the
38:55pool what could be better yeah it's pretty cool we're very lucky the kids love it they're in there
38:59multiple times a day brilliant and that is all part of the dream isn't it that connection with the
39:05outside that you're missing back in the other house yeah we've got it here yeah if you told me
39:11that this pool existed before the house i'd say are you sure because actually it just feels right
39:17everything has come together
39:24quite deliberately graham and bridget have their master bedroom and ensuite upstairs
39:28separated from the hubbub of the rest of the house there's also a quiet private home office up here
39:37downstairs behind the kitchen this strong tile choice in the lounge makes a statement
39:42and next door the girls have their own media room
39:46this opens out to the greened courtyard using leftover space originally designated for bins and clothes lines
39:52past the media room the long hallway now seems shorter hung with colorful artwork and family photos
40:00the girls bedrooms are identically sized but individually customized
40:05and the family bathroom features twin sinks a nod perhaps to teenage years ahead
40:12and they're right at the end here the gift suite lucky guests yeah
40:16the bedrooms all open onto their own decks and the garden playground graham and bridget was so motivated to create
40:31this is genuinely a surprising experience it's uh it feels huge yeah yeah pretty good space yeah it's great
40:38great space you know there was a point where there was a concern here that you know this this is going
40:44going to be a bit dominating but actually now it's softened and these timber slats the screening
40:51is so effective it's great composition great architecture i don't know if you realize but but
40:56this for me is brilliant yeah that's yeah we've done a good job you've set the bar high for these kids
41:02yeah we have they're pretty lucky yeah
41:04i like that you're sitting underneath a road trip picture it sort of suggests that you're always on a
41:18journey have you arrived is this now the forever home yeah yeah yeah yeah definitely yes i think um
41:28we're done and we're we're happy yeah you know seeing the girls in the pool and running around in
41:34the section in the house and that's the lifestyle yeah yeah and yeah it's uh yeah it's making us pretty
41:40happy i think yeah it is
41:47you had this sort of financial quadruple whammy didn't you increased construction costs
41:52increased interest rates that kept going up a housing market that slumped so your house you
41:58were selling was worth less and yet that rental property which uh was a disaster we didn't need
42:05was it worth it yeah absolutely it was but there were definitely times through the build that was
42:14pretty intense pretty stressful but yeah absolutely worth it it's um yeah it's amazing yeah
42:22uh budget then three million dollars land and the house how did you end up
42:31we were probably about a hundred to 150k over yeah about five percent yeah five percent sounds nicer
42:38but that's 150 is the reality yeah yeah i just we stopped counting it just the bills were coming
42:45thick and fast and it was tough we got there yeah we did yeah we had to go back to the bank for some
42:52more money uh-huh uh-huh bigger mortgage than you thought a mortgage at all yeah it's definitely a
42:57mortgage yeah which kind of actually roots you here doesn't it it does yeah it grabs what i don't know
43:03what more i would want good to be at this point now great to be at this point it is so good to be at
43:08this point yeah it's definitely changed our lives and for the better
43:18now i may have had concerns that this section and its restrictions would lead to a compromised
43:24building but that's not the feeling here this house transports you from generic suburbia down
43:32into a delightful world of waterfalls secret gardens courtyards spaces for play and partying
43:41and those things have come about precisely because of this intimate marriage of architecture and
43:46landscape that has worked with those apparent challenges and overcome them so successfully
43:53and so graham and bridget and their family have been left with not only a change of location
43:59but a complete life transformation
44:29so
44:36you