Take me to the river

Taking design notes from builds in Arrowtown and Wānaka, this Ngāruawāhia home exudes Southern style

- Monique Balvert-O’Connor

It was all go in Courtney and Brad Turton’s lives in November 2020 when they celebrated moving into their new home and greeting their newborn within days.

The house shift happened two days before their youngest daughter, Sienna, was born. Sienna’s big sister, Madelyn, celebrated her second birthday a day later with a little party in the birthing centre, rather than in their new house as planned.

Brad says there was no deliberate intention to overload an already momentous month – the plan had been to move into their house earlier. The house title came through from the council at the end of February 2020, and the dig out, which was due to begin was stymied by a nationwide Covid lockdown. And so, the project start date was delayed until May, then it was time to put in the hard yards to reap the rewards, with Brad working on the project mostly after hours and on the weekends.

Operation new-build 

The house is Brad and Courtney’s second new-build project. Their first (a celebration of light cedar with lots of white) was in Hamilton. They sold it before they started a family and rented for a few years while mulling over their next home ownership move.

Courtney says they checked out houses to renovate, houses to bowl and build again, then ventured out to Ngāruawāhia for a drive one day. That trip resulted in them acquiring one of the few remaining sections in a new subdivision development.

“We thought it was too good to be true, with its views of the Waikato River and the Hakarimata Ranges,” says Courtney.