Outtakes - Adam and Gaby Ellis' Wellington house

Our new issue is only just out, yet a number of people have already nominated Adam and Gaby Ellis' Wellington house, designed by Amelia Minty, as their favourite. (Like exemplary parents, we don't pick favourites as we love all the houses we publish in our pages equally). 

In any case, these early expressions of enthusiasm seemed like a good reason to publish some of Paul McCredie's lovely images that we couldn't squeeze into the magazine. Here are Gaby and Noa in the living area, with its great green views to the bush of the neighbouring hills in Houghton Bay:

Another view in the living area - this window offers a view south, with a peek at the sea. But mostly, the house is cleverly tucked onto its site with a hill to the south that shelters it from southerly winds.

You enter the home on the lower level, then climb the stairs in the photo below to reach the kitchen, dining and living space: 

This shot looks back down the stairs (at left) towards the entrance.

Outside, the house is remarkable for the way it connects with its verdant surrounds, partly thanks to Adam's landscaping expertise (he runs the Wellington landscape design firm Pollen, which has just outfitted Nikau Gallery Cafe with some swish new courtyard furniture).

Another key contributor to the home's success is the way cars are parked outside, requiring a short walk up to the house. Not so handy on a rainy day, but we think the approach to the house (designed by Adam and shown in the three images below) is so appealing that facing a bit of bad weather is a small price to pay: 

The image below shows the view looking down past the master bedroom and its deck to the deck outside the main living area, covered with a pergola.

This view of the house shows how Amelia designed it to step down the slope - a refreshing change to boring, bulldozed-flat sites, and one that makes the house much livelier as a result.