The Barest Level Of Shelter, Without Losing The Magic

“I always wanted to build a cabin,” says Simon Wilson. “That’s one thing I’d wanted to do forever.”

- Simon Farrell-Green

Yet three years ago, at the height of the Auckland property crisis, Wilson and his partner Anna MacLeod – who have two children, Milo (eight) and Scout (two) – found themselves locked out of the Auckland market. “I felt frustrated that we didn’t own anything,” he says. “We couldn’t play, we couldn’t renovate, we couldn’t build anything.”

You might know Wilson’s work – the Auckland based photographer shoots for the likes of Fearon Hay and Rufus Knight, and is a regular contributor to this magazine, among many others. He spends most days documenting some of the best new spaces this country has to offer and has a keen on eye for the fall of light and tectonics of space – the way an architecturally designed building goes together.

Eventually, Wilson’s twin desires came together in rural land north of Auckland and near the coast on which to build a cabin. Four hectares of rolling country cost less than a cheap Auckland apartment and include a couple of stands of native bush, a stream and a dam in which to swim. Eventually, there’ll be fruit trees and gardens. The beach is a 10-minute drive away. (The couple purchased the land with friends, who’ve built elsewhere on the property.)