Local architecture lovers have the opportunity to step inside two of Raglan’s most exciting contemporary builds on Saturday 30 May, thanks to the Here & Dulux Open Home.
The Open Home series has been run by Here magazine and sponsored by Dulux since 2021, opening houses all around the country that have featured in the magazine. But this is the first time the series has come to Waikato. “It says so much about Raglan’s design scene that we’re coming to Raglan for the first Waikato Open Home,” says Here editor Simon Farrell-Green. “There’s so much going on in the town, and these houses are emblematic of that.”
On offer are two recently designed homes in Rangitahi. Engawa House by Tane Cox, of Red Architecture, is loosely on the idea of a Japanese verandah: it’s part surf shack, part pavilion, but 100 percent a family home. Low-lying and arranged around a courtyard, the engawa provides both circulation and living space; thresholds bring you through the house and into private spaces. Boundaries between inside and outside are blurred. This home celebrates the rituals of daily life.
Around the corner – literally – you’ll find Sisters Sanctuary, designed by Georgia Peacocke, of Edwards White Architects, for herself and her two sisters. Featured in Here 16, it sits somewhere between retreat and full-time home. Cleverly upending suburban conventions, it pulls back from the street, hiding behind a solid brick wall and timber screening. It’s enigmatic, airy, yet welcoming.
The magazine, which publishes architecturally designed houses in Aotearoa, runs four open homes a year. “It’s a wildly popular series,” says Here editor Simon Farrell-Green. “On the magazine we are privileged to visit houses often, but it’s not something the general public get to do, so we love to give them that opportunity.”
Tickets are $30 and give you entry to both homes. To read more, and purchase tickets, head to thisishere.nz/open-home-raglan.
Here & Dulux Open Home Raglan
thisishere.nz/open-home-raglan
