Nestled on a crescent-shaped surf beach on South Island’s Banks Peninsula sits a deceptively simple beach house. Scrubby Bay is a rustic retreat flush with modern luxuries and breathtaking scenery at every turn.

The getaway’s farmhouse-inspired appearance is a nod to Annandale, the 4,000-acre sheep and cattle farm to which the property belongs. Kiwi businessman Mark Palmer purchased the coastal property and, inspired by his childhood years on a farm, tapped architect Andrew Patterson of Auckland–based firm Patterson Associates to update Annandale with four luxury villas—Scrubby Bay being the largest and most remote of them all.

“Design spurs from the symmetry of the bay,” Patterson explains, having placed the Scrubby Bay house in the center of the bay’s long arc. “The structure remains long and low, not needing to compete with its breathtaking surroundings; instead it remains appurtenant, belonging to the land. The balance of the bay complements the form of the barn, as do the sun-soaked crops that blend in with the natural cedar wood exterior.”

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The cedar-clad villa comprises two gabled forms spanning approximately 4,800 square feet. It includes three ocean-front bedroom suites, a bunk room that sleeps eight, a lofty great room with a central hearth built of locally quarried stone, a sun-soaked patio looking towards the ocean, and a large pool in the rear.

Taking inspiration from a “slowly aging piece of farm driftwood,” the architects wrapped Scrubby Bay’s roof and facade with untreated cedar that will naturally weather over time. The interior is fully lined in locally sourced macrocarpa juxtaposed with black steel fittings. Custom-designed fittings are used throughout—from door hardware to furniture, lighting, oak grills, and handles.

“The bay was rural and peaceful and rugged,” Patterson notes. “I labored very hard about whether to do a completely abstracted form on that site, and I didn’t want to do that because that bay is eternal, and one thing that you do know is it’s likely to be a farm for a long time.

“If you pick a contemporary form, you fight the timeless nature of the bay. But the building is reasonably abstracted in a material sense – everything about it is still very contemporary, but unmistakably rural New Zealand. It’s not excessive in any way. It has classic proportions and natural forms. The drama of that house is its centeredness in the amphitheater of the bay.”

Scrubby Bay is available for booking via Annandale's website.

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Patterson Associates / @pattersonassociates

Builder/General Contractor: Hoogervorst Architectural Builders

Structural Engineer/Civil Engineer: Tyndall & Associates

Landscape Design Company: Rob Watson

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