House Delights Owners

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28529, 7 March 1958, Page 11

House Delights Owners

The house which aroused the greatest interest in last year’s Parade of Homes, although it was not the most popular, was the entry of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects.

: with a smooth transition between the two. ’ “It may be back-to-front,” he says, “but it is the only way to ! build. Why build a place to look ' well from the street if it is not going to be private?” ? The low-pitched roof extends • over the long, narrow terrace, i keeping the house cool in sum- , mer. Last winter the house .was found to be extremely warm. It, . is placed on the section so as to • receive all the winter sun through • the large windows which extend I the full length of the north side. ’ The concrete slab foundation, ’ thought certain by many of the ’ 100,000 who saw the house last • year to be damp in winter, proved 5 to be extremely warm. The slab I foundation, 'which is covered with i cork tiles, was also found to be • considerably more silent than an 5 ordinary timber floor. i The brick walls inside, a source of horror to many who inspected r the house in the Parade of Homes, ? have not worried Mr and Mrs J Thomas. The brick has been J found to be warm and to provide s good sound insulation. > According to Mrs Thomas, many . of their friends strongly disliked j the house at first, but they are - now completely won over. Mr Thomas has no criticism to • make of either the planning or I construction of his home. ‘My r only criticism is of persons who ? won’t try to understand the reaj sons why it is different,” he says.

It is, by comparison with most Other houses in Wayside street, unusual. What would normally be regarded as the rear of the house —the kitchen and laundry windows —faces the street. The house rests on a concrete slab foundation and it is constructed of creosoted timber with the end wall, which are unlined, of cavity double brick. The owners, ]f[r and Mrs P. Thomas, are delighted with their home. “If I ever shift to another part of New Zealand I will build exactly the same type of house,” says Mr Thomas. “I would never go back to a conventional house.”

One unusual feature of their home which Mr and Mrs Thomas particularly like is the pitched ceiling, with exposed Oregon beams. They enjoy the spaciousness the pitched ceiling provides without the necessity for high walls. The core of the house is a family room with an open kitchen at one end. In this room most of the family activity takes place—the family dines and Mrs Thomas is able to keep an eye on her two small sons while preparing meals. From this room a large sliding door opens on to a concrete terrace—part of the foundation—

running the length of the house and a large lawn totally enclosed by a high wooden fence. It is, Mr Thomas says, a completely private area for outdoor and indoor living