“We were introduced to Tom Rowe from RB Studio by loving his Volcano House in Devonport. Having discovered who owned it, we were luckily allowed to visit, and from there contacted Tom with ideas of our new house. Our brief was to have an open modern home, lots of glass to the extensive views, a light airy “Japanese feeling” building.
The land we had bought in Waiheke faced north, with views over the bay, views over vineyards to the west and a sheltering hill behind. The existing two small 70’s cottages were removed and replaced by Tom’s design of the main house and separate studios, for painting ceramics. I wanted something special, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune, so we tried to keep a balance, spending on the important areas and being sensible about cost where it didn’t matter or where we felt we could save.
Our builder was great, Willie James of James Bros. He kept prices under control as much as possible yet worked to produce a spectacular and well built house.
Tom was happy for us to use our builder and our engineer; he was always willing to listen to our input and we were involved with the whole process. Tom is easy to connect with, and we enjoyed our discussions on aesthetics and practicalities. During his visits he looked keenly at work done. There were many discussions and final details perfected. Charlie (Tom’s Assistant) was in constant contact with willie also.
The end result is a house that already feels like a home crossed with a stylish resort, perfect.
Thankyou, Tom.”
A + G
“If we would ever build, we would like Tom to create our new home!” – something said years before we even intended to build.
Years later, the project started with a vision as soon as Tom saw the section. Using the landscape and views to form a special place.
We were impressed with the professionalism, the listening and care, attention to detail, the quality of communication and support - from concept, to design, when it came to specifications, throughout the building phase, till completion and beyond.
Tom has been incredible, very thorough and solution oriented; he is also very personable and it was a pleasure working with him.
Our new home is unique and very special every day to us. We are very grateful.”
G + S
