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Patrick and Teresa are in their early 30’s with a young family. They wanted a striking, warm family home, so they engaged someone they knew well to design their home. Their architect, Michael O’Sullivan, is Teresa’s cousin.

The design for their Point Chevalier home was ambitious and included transforming their two-bedroom, single-level, standalone unit to a three bedroom, two-level home, complete with an ensuite. They wanted their home to reflect their love of native timbers and to have a barn-style feel.

Throughout the house, we used lots of timber, including Kauri ply and stunning Rimu flooring. The architect had a bold vision, which was challenging to build, and the ply required detailing into the curves to achieve smooth lines. Murray Long Builders was able to connect Michael’s vision with Patrick and Teresa’s ideas, and together we created a beautiful home with exceptional finishing and detailing.

We loved having the freedom to take our time to get their home just right. It was a real joy seeing the enthusiasm from Patrick, Teresa and Michael as challenges were overcome, and their ideas were realised in a strong and brilliant way. It was also satisfying to hear that Patrick and Teresa enjoyed building their home!

Photos by Rachel Shields Photography

Murray Long Builders Ltd
Auckland

About the
Professional

He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Our number one value as a business is ‘People Matter’, this is the substance behind ‘Enjoy building your home!’ The people we have on our team and the contractors we engage align to this value which results in both our team and our clients feeling valued and respected throughout the build.

Murray Long – Director

As director of MLB, Murray’s role is more than simply being the boss or solving problems — but also being the culture-setter. Learning how to handle those responsibilities well doesn’t happen overnight. In Murray’s case it didn’t have to, he began the company in 1996, so you might say the culture has grown around him. It’s the thing Murray is most proud of in MLB — the team culture and their desire to do the best possible work.

At the heart of this culture is the passion to build outstanding houses for clients who appreciate that level of detail. Being part of seeing designs unfold over the months of a build and seeing people’s eyes light up as they walk into a new space, or see some detail that has just been finished, or welcoming a family into their new home is something you can’t describe and what drives Murray to lead this team.

Murray’s dream home is a retreat away from the crowds with his family, one that looks out over the coast. But his favourite house among those built by his company is, no surprise, his own family home. ‘You get to live in what you have created,’ Murray says.