Houses Revisited: Parau House
Looking past the bath in the ensuite bathroom to the dense bush beyond.
The bathroom shared by the children has bold sky-blue tiles.
The sandy colours in the ensuite bathroom are offset by a vertical splash of rich-red tiles in the shower.
This house in West Auckland, designed by Context Architects, sits on a great site, hidden away from neighbours by extensive bush and looking out over a steep, bushy valley to the water beyond. This rare combination of views and privacy is cleverly utilised in the plan.
The house is made up of three wings linked together by connecting hallways that act as natural galleries with large windows offering a range of views to occupants of the house wherever they are.
The master bathroom is no exception. This is a large ensuite with a double sink, toilet, bath and a rainhead shower. The bath sits in an alcove that has glazing on two of three walls and from the room appears to float out into the bush beyond. The owner of the house says that from the bath you can see tui pottering about in the trees and bushes. The windows can be opened right up to create even more of an outdoor bath feel.
This bathroom can be accessed from the hallway and also from the master bedroom, with a small open hall running from this room past a walk-in change area to the master bedroom.
The palette is continued from the hall and the wooden tones of the rest of the house, the floor is the same brushed concrete and the wall tiles are a soft sandy brown. Accessories and a strip of rich-red tiles in the shower add a pop of bolder colour.
Upstairs the owner’s two children share a smaller bathroom that has an almost nautical feel. This bathroom is filled with light from an enormous skylight. It repeats the vanity unit from downstairs and has crisp white tiles and dark timber flooring continued from the upstairs hall. Here the pop of colour in the shower is much louder – bright sky-blue tiles line one wall of the walk-in shower and the wall behind the vanity and create a real splash.
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Note: These are stories from our archives and, since the time of writing, some details may have changed including names, personnel of specific firms, registration status, etc.
