Gold award for couple’s Raglan retreat

The work of Waikato-based building company Malachi Farrant Homes has spoken for itself this year, having taken out a gold award in the Builder’s Own Home section category of the Registered Master Builders House of the Year 2018 competition.
At Raglan, Malachi and Hannah Farrant’s new four-bedroom retreat is a return to home for Malachi, who grew up in the area.
The open plan entertaining area is the heart of the home for the couple, and the views from the light-ﬁlled upstairs living space of the windmill farm Mt Karioi, and a panoramic view of Lorenzen Bay are key to what makes this house so special. “It’s got this really beachy, open feel and pieces of us through it, our own personal touch,” Hannah says.
“This is a home we’ve built that’s going to be with us forever. We don’t want to sell this home, we want our kids to grow up here and enjoy it.”
Malachi and Hannah chose aerated concrete panel for its durability and low maintenance properties in a seaside living environment.
The white concrete panel is offset with cedar around two sets of sliding doors opening the upstairs living to the L-shaped deck, the front door downstairs, and the deck cedar pillars.
Indoors, sandy tones and blonded timber accents offset plenty of crisp white for a clean and fresh palette in tune with coastal living, while Malachi and Hannah’s furnishings enhance the holiday vibe.
The home was originally intended as Malachi and Hannah’s holiday home, but became their permanent home when someone came to see, fell in love with, and bought the home they had built for themselves in the St Kilda subdivision in Cambridge. “For us it was about our extended family and a place where everyone could stay,” says Hannah.
Catering for every eventuality, the home includes multiple bedroom designs – a master suite, a double bedroom, a bunk room, and a nursery.
The couple have built a separate, self-contained twobedroom family unit on the rear of the section with its own open-plan kitchen, dining, and living space and covered outdoor living area at ground level. Malachi and Hannah are using the unit for Airbnb.
“It’s already getting booked out which is cool, everyone else gets to share this little bit of paradise we’ve got here,” Hannah says.

Malachi Farrant Homes has been in business for eight years and the couple felt it was their time to enter the Registered Master Builders House of the Year competition.
Hannah had recently joined the team and it was time to grow the business. “I think the Registered Master Builders House of the Year awards are a way to forge a reputation
“This is a home we’ve built that’s going to be with us forever. We don’t want to sell this home, we want our kids to grow up here and enjoy it.” without us having to say it ourselves,” Hannah says. “This is an example of our work speaking for itself, which is nice.”
Malachi and Hannah worked hard to get their home completed in time for judging, and found it rewarding working together to get the last bits and pieces ﬁnished off.
Competition judges told Malachi and Hannah they should be really proud of themselves, and they really are.
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