Established in 2014 as Letford Homes Ltd by Shon and Lauren Letford, the Te Awamutu based construction company rebranded late last year as Luxe Designer Homes Ltd.
Shon says rebranding was largely due to where the business has positioned itself in the home building market—focusing on high-end bespoke luxury homes.
Underlining Luxe Designer Homes’ focus on creating beautiful designer homes is the completion its new $1.4 million show home in St Leger Road, due for opening in August.
Architecturally designed and brimming with energy saving technology while showcasing Luxe Designer Homes’ approach to design, detail and craftsmanship, the home sets an exciting standard in innovation.
Set on 7000sqm of park-like grounds and featuring a 4000sqm pond, the home’s single story footprint covers 300sqm, making full use of the spacious section by spanning 34sqm on its front face.
The contemporary design of the home includes a mix of cedar and celcrete cladding, giving the home a striking dark and light effect. “We have predominantly used cedar shiplap with three different profiles to create a vertical pattern.
That has been combined with celcrete, a 50mm aerated concrete material that has been plastered giving it a sandy texture.
There’s also flush mounted garage door clad in cedar so that when it’s closed it doesn’t look like a garage door.” Shon proudly explains that Lauren designed the front door in conjunction with the joinery company.
“It looks as though it’s a corten/rusted panel pivot door. It has no handles and is opened and closed by a magnet or your phone. That door style is now included in the joinery firms stock.”
Enter the house; square top plastering has been used throughout, featuring a 2.7 metre stud.
Through the main kitchen and living area a raked cathedral ceiling lined with shiplap pine repeats the same pattern as the cedar on the outside.
“The kitchen, dining and lounge is all one big area,” explains Shon.”
There’s a TV room off to the side of that, with steel and glass doors that slide inside the walls. I made the doors myself using 20×20 box section and glass panelling.
“They’re like a barn door but we’ve designed them so that they can go inside the walls. The doors really do form a stunning feature in their own right.”
With the master bedroom and en-suite cleverly positioned at the kitchen/dining and of the house, three additional bedrooms have been placed at the other end.
Two of the bedrooms have cavity sliders to the main bathroom, effectively providing them with an en-suite. The main bathroom also has a door to the
hallway, enabling access by guests in the fourth bedroom.
In addition to the fabulous design and layout of the family home, it also features an ATA Touch system, designed to integrate power saving devices with energy management, automation and control.
“I’m being set up with Electric Kiwi, which provides one free hour of power per day,” says Shon.
“They set up the house so that whenever that timeis the house effectively comes to life -it could be 2am – and the appliances that we have preselected get into action.”
A heat pump system is also utilised to heat the house and water.
“The heat pump brings the water up to temperature and once that is reached the cylinder kicks in and the element holds it. The heat pump system also runs the spa pool.”
The ‘smart house’ automates functions so if the owner is retuning home in the evening after doing a grocery shop, lights and heating will spring to life when the garage door is opened.
Smart, beautiful and very luxurious—the home envisioned and crafted by Luxe Designer Homes is a clear reflection of its name.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Waipa Glass
- Mico Bathrooms
- Phase Electrical
- Bunnings Trade Centre
- Ata Touch
