TRANQUIL SCENE: A large fixed picture window greets visitors. Photography by Wayne Martin.

A RECTANGULAR concrete and plaster house is deceiving to the eye as the interior fit-out and exterior setting quickly lay any thoughts of austerity to rest.

When Guy Blundell decided to build a new house on his 16.2-hectare Clevedon farm, his instructions to the architect were to design something totally simple.

“So many new houses are big and complicated,” he says. “I wanted a farmhouse style and a simple single-level including a long living area which would work well for small and large groups. I was previously in an old farmhouse and, as you become more mature, you don’t need a big space.”

The hardest decision to make was where to site the house. Inspired by Ayrlies Garden in Whitford, Guy has dug eight ponds and planted between 1000 and 2000 liquid amber trees along with some magnolias. The aim is to create an arboretum with a spectacular blaze of red and yellow autumn colour.

A site well away from the road was chosen for the house along with concrete block and plaster coating for a simple, clean look.

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SIMPLE AND WARM: A wood-burning fireplace lights up the living room; food preparation is hidden in a butler's pantry.

Pitched cedar ceilings are supported with beams cut from timber on the farm and treated with a lime-wash paint which gives the house a light airy feeling. Even the steel bolt fittings are lime washed and turned into a feature rather than being masked, to add to the rustic touch. In addition, deep windows and doors on all sides of the house afford light and spectacular views of the surrounding land.

The living area is one long room, designed to cope with Guy and his partner Gill Ewen’s combined family of seven children when they visit. An open wood-burning fireplace at one end is fronted by a deep hearth, perfect for sitting close to the flames. Dining and coffee tables along with a sideboard cabinet have been chosen to match the lime washed ceilings.

At the other end of the room is the kitchen featuring a large island bench and cooking station. But the engine room is the butler’s pantry accessed by two sliding doors made from swamp kauri sourced on the farm and set off with frosted glass.

Gill says she always had a vision of what the kitchen would be like — neat and tidy — “so the butler’s pantry is perfect, I can pull the doors and close it off”. Guy adds: “It’s good for grubby buggers like me.” An added advantage is a second sink in the pantry, larger than the traditional domestic size, which can easily handle bulky items, such as roasting dishes.

To highlight the timber theme, Guy spent hours laying a polished parquet floor throughout the living area and extending down a long hallway which runs along the front edge of the house.

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LIGHT AND AIRY: Lime washed ceilings match the dining and kitchen area; ablution facilities hidden behind a vanity wall.

Bedrooms lead off while doors and windows on the exterior wall let in the sun and provide more stunning views. A large guest bedroom at the far end has been future-proofed with power and plumbing lines ready for the day it can be turned into a home-stay unit with a self-contained kitchenette.

The timber theme continues in the guest bathroom and en-suite bathroom off the master bedroom at the other end of the house. Joinery and mirror trims are made from matai Guy obtained after it was taken out of the Clevedon Hall years before.

An elegant touch in the guest bathroom is the vanity and hand-basin units set against a wall, which stretches partly across the middle of the room. Around the corner behind the wall at one end is the toilet and, at the other end, a shower.

One of the most spectacular features greets visitors as they step through the front door into a large foyer. The eye is taken straight ahead to a huge fixed window, bordered at each end with floor to ceiling cedar louvres.

Through the glass the grass, trees and one of the ponds evoke an air of tranquillity.