The home is located in Todds Valley, a 10-minute drive from Nelson, where architect William Samuels grew up—and one of the least affordable areas in New Zealand. “The obsession with the price of housing is pervasive and can cloud our thinking when we consider the true value of a home,” he says. “In New Zealand, there is a tendency to think of housing purely as an asset, an investment, rather than a home, a place for life to happen.”