Rural Renovation

Swiss-born homeowner and designer Alexandra Dickie-Kockova and her Kiwi husband, Alex, have just completed a residential makeover that’s transformed their small brick farmhouse into a spacious family home clad in Linea™ Weatherboard.

The farm on which they live and work has been in Alex’s family for 38 years. ‘There was an old homestead on the farm, but it was demolished and in the early ‘80s, my father-in-law built a two-bedroom brick cottage on the site,’ says Alexandra.

Arriving in New Zealand seven years ago, she moved into the cottage with Alex and began making plans for renovations. As a designer with her own small practice, Alexandra had lots of ideas for refurbishing and extending the house, among them was the thought of adding on another story.

But this gave way to the concept of expanding outwards to create the perfect family home for the couple and their two young daughters. The new design incorporates three additional bedrooms, a new entranceway, a larger bathroom and an ensuite to the master bedroom. An existing bedroom was transformed into an office, while the lounge was extended and opens out onto a covered deck via bifold doors. All this, together with the addition of a double garage on the entrance side of the house has more than doubled its size.

And to complement the new design, Alexandra and Alex chose to clad their home in Linea Weatherboard.

Alexandra admits that arriving in New Zealand, where timber construction and weatherboard cladding is the norm, was something of a learning curve after her experiences of European design and construction techniques, but she had no hesitation in specifying Linea Weatherboard for their home.

‘It’s true that I’ve had to relearn a lot of things about different construction techniques and materials since arriving here, but I specify Linea Weatherboard quite frequently, both for renovations of original weatherboard houses and for new buildings, so I know the product well,’ she says.

‘We always wanted to use Linea Weatherboard. It suits the rural surroundings and it also complements the lines of the house, and goes well with the corrugated iron roof.’

Alexandra says Linea Weatherboard also offered other significant benefits in terms of its low maintenance requirements – a must when Alex is busy working on the farm, while Alexandra runs her business.

What’s more, using Linea Weatherboard allowed the couple to choose a dark-coloured paint without the risk of the boards warping or the paint finish deteriorating prematurely.

‘The house is painted in Resene Bokara Grey, a dark – almost black – grey,’ says Alexandra.  In addition to this Resene offers an extended paint warranty of 15 years when using Linea Weatherboard.

Inside, the walls around the walk-in showers are lined in James Hardie Villaboard® Lining. Villaboard Lining is the perfect product to use in wet areas because it is resistant to damage from water and it will continue to perform even if the product gets wet.

With the renovation completed just a month ago, the family is now putting the finishing touches to the landscaping and looking forward to making the most of their new house over the summer months.

 

PRODUCTS USED

Linea Weatherboard by James Hardie

Villaboard Lining by James Hardie