We are lucky in New Zealand to never be far from the sea. Homeowners, Jan and Graeme Dasler of Kaikōura, sealed their love affair with the sea by building an idyllic waterfront home with the help of LMC Building and Construction.

WORDS Kathy Catton PHOTOGRAPHY Dan Kerins

Living for over forty years in South Bay, on the Kaikōura Peninsula, Graeme and Jan Dasler know what they like about this place. The all-day sun, fresh sea air and sense of space. Even despite the devastating November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, there is no budging them. Whether it’s fishing commercially, extracting the odd crayfish for dinner or walking along the beach, Graeme and Jan love this place.

The catastrophic earthquake allowed them to start again. The original two-storey earthquake-damaged home on their 1300 sqm section had to be demolished, and the couple called in the help of Luke Chambers and his team at LMC Building.

“We live 100 metres from the water. All that separates us from the sea, and the beach is a four-metre shingle mound. And we love that!” says Graeme.

KITCHEN The kitchen joinery was designed and installed by The Joiner Shop, with a Caesarstone benchtop. — **KITCHEN** The kitchen joinery was designed and installed by The Joiner Shop, with a Caesarstone benchtop.

The couple set about working with Daniel Webb, Lead Designer at Threefold Architecture, to design a cedar and lightweight concrete panel home.

The brief was nothing too big, no stairs and a view from every room. And Graeme and Jan are “over the moon” with the result. The result is a stunning two-bedroom 150 sqm home, with generous decks and a shed for Graeme to pursue his love of motorcycle restoration.

Daniel is pleased with the result and says it’s always interesting to consider the local needs of a site. “This is a high sea spray zone, so we had to mitigate that with good material selection. There was also some archaeological and Waahi Tapu significance to consider in the build,” says Daniel.

Graeme and Jan were pleased with how Daniel put their needs first, and there was a high level of consultation and input from them.

“Because we’ve lived here so long, we know exactly where the sun comes up through the year, or where the best spot for a barbecue area would be,” says Graeme. “And Daniel listened to all of this. Nothing was ever a problem.”

Luke Chambers, of LMC Building, was a natural choice to head the build process. “I’ve known Luke for 30 years,” smiles Graeme. “He was only ten or 11 years old back then, but I knew he’d understand our needs when it came to building a house.”

EXTERIOR The cedar and lightweight concrete panels showcase the exterior of this home, built by LMC Building. — **EXTERIOR** The cedar and lightweight concrete panels showcase the exterior of this home, built by LMC Building.

LMC Building has been heavily involved in the aftermath of the Kaikōura earthquake. Both in the emergency response and the repair phase, the team of eight have been giving advice and working with householders and business owners to make sure the progress they expect, happens.

“The Daslers were great to work with. They wanted a fixed-price contract on their build, which is good with us,” says Luke Chambers, owner of the business. “We have a flexible arrangement with clients, and we like to give them options of an open book ‘do and charge’ service, fixed-price contract or quoted work. We are happy for homeowners to be as involved or as removed as they want to be.” Building the home as if it were their own, site foreman Evan Claridge and apprentice Dan Kerins were on site every day to ensure everything went according to plan. Evan was able to bring the design to life and execute the build to a high standard. With the house being built one metre above the ground (to maximise the view) meant there was the odd challenge to navigate.

“The floor to ceiling sliding doors with a pillar-less corner were a great challenge,” says Luke. “The two doors, called pocket sliders, disappear into the walls when they are opened, and create a fantastic indoor-outdoor flow. But there was no threshold for error. We had to make sure we got it right the first time.” When these doors are opened up, it creates a wonderful space for having a barbecue and watching the sunset, while socialising with friends.

Another of the highlights of the home is the kitchen. Supplied and installed by The Joiner Shop Kaikōura, the benchtops are Caesarstone and 20 mm slimline stainless steel.

“We worked closely with Jan and Graeme to ensure the kitchen design met their needs,” says Suzanne at The Joiner Shop. “It was important to the clients that the open plan living space was maximised, so we designed the kitchen accordingly.” The team at The Joiner Shop supplied and installed the laundry and wardrobes, and all of the internal doors.

JOINERY The floor to ceiling sliding windows create a stunning finish to this home, designed by Threefold Architecture. — **JOINERY** The floor to ceiling sliding windows create a stunning finish to this home, designed by Threefold Architecture.

People have long believed in the healing and therapeutic properties of ocean air. While the negative ions in sea air accelerate your ability to absorb oxygen and balance your serotonin levels, Jan and Graeme don’t need convincing of the benefits of living by the sea.

“It’s absolutely perfect here – the home, the sea, the place,” says Graeme. “We’ve already been offered more for the house than we paid for it. But we’re not moving!”