“We were introduced to Tom Rowe from RB Studio by loving his Volcano House in Devonport. Having discovered who owned it, we were luckily allowed to visit, and from there contacted Tom with ideas of our new house. Our brief was to have an open modern home, lots of glass to the extensive views, a light airy “Japanese feeling” building.
The land we had bought in Waiheke faced north, with views over the bay, views over vineyards to the west and a sheltering hill behind. The existing two small 70’s cottages were removed and replaced by Tom’s design of the main house and separate studios, for painting ceramics. I wanted something special, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune, so we tried to keep a balance, spending on the important areas and being sensible about cost where it didn’t matter or where we felt we could save.
Our builder was great, Willie James of James Bros. He kept prices under control as much as possible yet worked to produce a spectacular and well built house.
Tom was happy for us to use our builder and our engineer; he was always willing to listen to our input and we were involved with the whole process. Tom is easy to connect with, and we enjoyed our discussions on aesthetics and practicalities. During his visits he looked keenly at work done. There were many discussions and final details perfected. Charlie (Tom’s Assistant) was in constant contact with willie also.
The end result is a house that already feels like a home crossed with a stylish resort, perfect.
Thankyou, Tom.”
A + G
