As more than a decade of commercials for a certain brand of pills has illuminated, there’s a segment of the population that has an affinity for sitting side by side in outdoor bathtubs. We make no assumptions about the man who built himself this house other than that he loves those tubs.
The head of Auckland-based firm LTD Architectural Design Studio, David Maurice built himself and his family a two-story home near Puhoi that’s mainly constructed from locally-sourced Macrocarpa timber and features an outdoor fireplace and two parallel tubs sunken into its scenic deck.
A build that encourages a blend of indoor and outdoor living, the Back Country House plays off the “uniquely New Zealand typology of the backcountry hut,” according to Defign. (For a pretty fascinating look at the role the traditional backcountry hut plays in New Zealand, read this.)
Essentially just one big room, the home’s main floor handles its occupants living, cooking and eating needs while the smaller top floor has sleeping areas and tons of good-looking skylights.
The winner of an Architectural Design New Zealand Award, house’s interior is “calm, clean and filled with filtered light, a haven despite the wild, back country outside,” according to judges.
We’d simply add that, for a hut, you could do much, much worse — and have way fewer bathtubs.
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