A Remote Cabin in New Zealand Celebrates Affordable Materials and Life’s Simple Pleasures

"There is no formed driveway to the retreat—the owners just drive across the paddock in their four-wheel-drive vehicles," says architect Claire Natusch. "They often had to give me a lift to site, as my little city car couldn’t hack it. Getting supplies to the site in winter was tricky, and part of the design consideration was to keep individual building elements small and assembled on-site rather than preformed trusses or steel elements that would require heavy trucks driving up slippery hillsides."