Perched on the top of a rocky outcrop, I focus the lens and look down on the cool and welcoming outdoor dining area. It’s dusk, but the sun’s heat remains. Bruce and Shirley Turner are serving up a tasty barbecue treat, washed down with a few bottles of first class wine from the region.

I have to be careful not to step too far back. I don’t want to stumble into the 9m deep tomo, or sinkhole, which is dimly illuminated by a weird blue glow. (Just as well there are safety rails.)

It feels a bit like a theatre set, or perhaps a setting for a sci-fi movie. Massive limestone boulders are strewn throughout the sloping, bushclad site, from the top of the hill down to the road.

What makes the Turner’s house, at Pohara Beach in Golden Bay, even more dramatic is the fact that the rocks don’t just cover the site – they come inside as well.

Some people think they must have moved the rocks there, says Shirley. At several tonnes each, not likely! How, then, did they come up with this novel looking house?

It was all down to Christchurch architectural designer Trevor Henderson. Trevor, a big confident man with firm ideas, stood
on the site for about half an hour, did some sketches, then said, “Right, that’s it.”

Big Trev, who does work around New Zealand, rates it as one of his most satisfying projects in his 25-year career. “The actual job has come out brilliant. The clients were right, the site wasn’t that difficult... I must admit, I was impressed when I first saw it.”
Designing it was an adventure. The Turners were delighted.

“We loved it,” says Shirley. “We didn’t think you could do anything like this. He wanted the house growing out of the hill.”

Instead of excavating the hillside and shifting the boulders, Henderson simply designed the house around and on top of them.

If being inside the house feels like being inside a sculpture, the exterior view is equally eye-catching. Deep red corrugated Colorsteel walls contrast with the deep green of the bush, the blue of the sky and the grey rocks. Somehow the house looks like it belongs on the site.

It is built on three main levels, shaped a little like a sideways H. At the bottom leg of the H is the main entrance and garage, together with the main bedroom. Another special feature is the shower, designed by Vicki Andrews, of Christchurch. Finished in porcelain biscuit tiles and Travertine marble, it’s 2m wide and has a view. Venetian blinds assure modesty.

The connecting bar of the H leads up to the top floor living areas. Paved with marble and surrounded by glass, this linkway is dramatic night or day. Huge panes of glass nestle just centimeters from boulders. Yes, it was a nightmare for the builders, Paul say Bruce and Shirley. But Paul Crockford Builders, of Takaka, carried it off without a hitch.

Christchurch lighting designer Jane Purdue chose a series of halogens scattered at intervals, placed at stair level. So at night, rather than washing the stairway with strong overhead light, the rocks reveal patches of light and shade. This makes them even more mysterious.

Jane also designed lighting for the rest of the home. A light in the big trees close to the house – a Pittosporum Tenafolium and a Griselinia Lucida - illuminate their leafy form. The blue light inside the tomo looks ethereal, other worldly. A suspended stainless steel fluorescent light fitting in the games room is a work of art in itself.

Upstairs, big windows look northwest over the boulders towards Pohara Beach and the sparkling sea. Sunlight streams through skylights, creating patterns on the tall totara ceiling and walls.

Vicki Andrews designed the huge kitchen, which makes a natural gathering place for friends and family. The emphasis is on loads of space and natural materials: an enormous granite bench top, light tawa joinery and stainless steel.

Doors lead out to the deck and barbecue area, and a series of pathways through the rocks.

At the northern end of the house a little lounge snuggles into the hillside. Windows capture the view up the rock-strewn slope.
Doors open out to sitting areas on both sides. One captures the early morning sun; the other is the place to be in the late afternoon.

Back past the kitchen two bedrooms and another bathroom open off the passageway. Bathroom windows open outward, letting in the cool night air and the sounds of the bush.

At the far southern end is yet another special room: the table tennis room. Windows give you the impression of being secluded in the midst of the bush, with a view of the trees. Ferns, nikau palms and mahoe give a lush, semi-tropical feel. The rich glow of the matai floor and totara ceiling timbers add to the ambience.

Bruce and Shirley chose not to clutter the home with masses of furniture or decorations, letting the natural materials speak for themselves. A few metal critters, made by Christchurch artist David Lloyd, bring a smile to the lips. A praying mantis and a weta have found a perch on the coffee table in the gamesroom. A big metal spider sits on one of the rocks just outside the stairwell. Gaze out at him and you could be forgiven for thinking he was real.

Being adventurous and trusting designers to explore their imagination has resulted in a house that gives Bruce and Shirley immense satisfaction. It’s a place they can’t imagine ever tiring of.

Shirley likes its indoor-outdoor appeal. Bruce agrees. “The house has a wonderful feel,” he says. “We both like the trees and the garden and we feel close to nature.”

Turner house: fact box

Site: Sloping hillside covered with bush and massive limestone boulders prompted owners and their family to scratch their heads and puzzle how anyone could possibly build a house there.

Architectural designer: Trevor Henderson, Henderson Design, Christchurch. “Big Trev” reckons it’s one of his most satisfying projects in a career spanning 25 years.

Exterior materials: Colorsteel, colour: Pioneer Red; butynol roofing; Builder, Paul Crockford Builders, Takaka; outdoor table and chairs from Neat Furniture, Christchurch.

Interior materials: Travertine marble, porcelain biscuit tiles in bathroom. Supplied by Europica, Christchurch. Tiler: Wayne Harrington, Perfection Tiling New Zealand. Totara ceilings, polished matai timber flooring in gamesroom, wool sisal carpets.

Interior colours: (Resene) Living areas: Half Pavlova; Main bedroom: double Lemongrass; Feature walls in entranceway and gamesroom: Dragon (dark green); Lounge/sitting room: Zeus (steel blue); Bedrooms two and three: double Canterbury Clay, double Calgary Sands.

Kitchen and bathroom designer: Vicki Andrews, Christchurch. Main ensuite: 2m wide shower, porcelain tiles, venetian blinds.
Kitchen: tawa joinery, granite and stainless steel benchtops, appliances from Miele and Bosch, Germany.

Lighting designer: Jane Purdue, Christchurch. Scattered halogens in stairwell, special suspended stainless-steel beam with fluorescent lights in gamesroom, tree lights and concealed blue light in tomo, or sinkhole. Lights supplied by Lighthouse Lighting, Christchurch.

Furniture and joinery: Coffee table, Chairs made from totara by Steve’s Joinery (Bathroom Gallery Ltd), Christchurch. Lounge suites: D.A. Lewis, Christchurch; Bedspreads and table lamp: Admire Interiors, Christchurch.

Artworks: Quirky insect sculptures by David Lloyd, Nelson.