nceuponatimetherewasafamily
who yearned for a home of their
own. But they lived in Auckland at the
height of the housing boom, and every
property they looked at with a garden big enough
for their two kids and their large dog was quickly
snapped up for more than they could a ord.
So Oliver Driver and Ella Mizrahi began to dream
a new dream. When a friend (call her their fairy
godmother if you like) o ered them the opportunity
to buy a cross-leased riverside section on the back
of her Te Atatu Peninsula home, they visualised a crisp
new house, built to their own specifi cations and
with all the benefi ts of a high-tech modern fi t-out.
And then along came a fairy godfather, in the formof their brother-in-law David Ponting of architectural
fi rm Ponting Fitzgerald, who o ered to design their
new home as a wedding present.
And so began three years of working closely with
David to refi ne the design to fi t within Auckland
Council regulations – and their budget. “This is our
fi rst-ever build,” says Oliver. “We started out with really
grand ideas, then we found out how expensive they
were, so it became quite a simple house.”
David designed a low-slung form reminiscent of
a holiday bach – he describes it as “an understated,
elegant shed achieved on a budget.”
Huge sliding doors open from the open-plan
living space to the deck, which steps down to a
small garden and the waterside reserve borderingAlthoughthe
subdivided
riverside site is
modest in size, it
“borrows” space
from the public
walkway that
borders the river