Restored Villa of Greendale
Restored Villa of Greendale
"Jack and his team have worked on several projects for us. Firstly for our home extension and renovation, then our two office renovations and now we have another home extension and renovation due to commence soon. We continually use Jack for our projects as he is very easy to deal with, has great communication skills, his workmanship is of a very high standard and has an eye for detail. Jack does not ʻcut cornersʼ, I always know that all of our projects have been built to the highest of quality."
- Nicole Cadman
Owners:
Matt & Nicole Cadman
Architect:
Peter Hawtin Architects
Builder:
Dewhirst Construction
Recognising that the only redeeming feature of their aging four bedroom wooden villa was its “good bones”, the owners called on Dewhirst Construction to remodel and modernise their home.
The $500,000 restoration project began in 2011 in the Selwyn district township of Greendale, about 50 mins west of Christchurch City. Jack describes the original four bedroom villa. “A bit of dive really. It needed relevelling and recladding to start with. The majority of the interior walls also needed relining.”
Although this was a planned renovation, some of the work came as a direct result of the Christchurch earthquake in February.
Firstly, the team replaced tired exterior timbers with new timber weatherboards and replaced old wooden window frames.
Next, the cramped and dreary east wing of the villa was remodelled to make better use of available sun and to increase usable space. This included cedar cavity sliders allowing occupants to open up the space or shut it off as desired.
This included increasing the adjacent kitchen to 70 sqm, gutting it and equipping it with modern functionality.
Dining and lounge areas were converted to open plan, while an extensive remodelling saw old living rooms converted to master bedrooms complete with ensuite.
Some internal exposed rafters added an expansive, rustic feel in keeping with age and style of the villa.
The entire verandah was rebuilt around the house and an automated aluminium Louvretec roof installed to regulate sunlight exposure and to keep out the rain.
The result was a much more functional home with aesthetically pleasing street appeal. All this achieved while the owners continued to live in the house. “That was probably the biggest challenge,” says Jack.
Not big enough to prevent them engaging Dewhirst Construction to build a new home for them in Motukarara from October 2017.
