Inspired architectural ingenuity meets Medlands Beach magic at Storm Cottage – a special getaway overlooking Oruawharo Bay on Great Barrier Island.
It’s a classic Fearon Hay feat – designed by Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon as a Hay family holiday home. Fearon Hay’s award-winning architectural practice is renowned for bringing understated elegance to diverse environments, with the rugged beauty of the Barrier the perfect canvas for this black rough-sawn timber structure that faces the sea.
John Greenwood, from Bayleys Real Estate, is selling the property and says the architectural pedigree speaks for itself here.
“The Fearon Hay connection tells you everything you need to know, in terms of the design, comfort levels and where it is,” he shares. “It’s just on the southern end of Medlands Beach, which is the best location on the Barrier.”
Start your property search
The elongated, horizontal box faces north and overlooks the bay, with the deep exterior colour palette chosen to harmonise with the manuka and kanuka trees that cover the hills behind.
Fearon Hay’s style, symmetry and simplicity is ever-present here, as well as inherent quality at every turn. How the design sits in its environment, as well as its functionality, is what makes it so special.
A pair of bedrooms and ensuites are set either side of a central living space and the dark exterior palette includes a layer of perforated metal screens. The internal walls and floors are made from oiled oak boards.
Storm Cottage was designed by Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon as a Hay family holiday home. Photo / Supplied
Connection with the outdoors is achieved via walls of glass sliders, both front and back, which open out on to decks. Photo / Supplied
Keeping it in the family, the nurturing interior palette was curated by interior architect Penny Hay, sister of Tim. Comfortable, flexible spaces are finished with custom furniture, with the oak walls and floors creating a soothing, cocooning ambience.
Clever, considered design sees bathrooms tucked behind sliding panels in the bedrooms, while barn-style sliders separate the bedrooms from the central living, kitchen and dining zone at the heart of the home.
Connection with the outdoors is achieved via walls of glass sliders, both front and back, which open out on to decks. The metal screens assist with shade, wind protection and security when required, while leaving the outlook uninterrupted.
“The view is just stunning. The property gets all of the sun and it’s got a beautiful, dead flat front lawn for playing on or pitching tents. It’s paradise, it really is,” says Greenwood.
Keeping it in the family, the interior palette was curated by interior architect Penny Hay, sister of Tim. Photo / Supplied
The building is off the grid, powered by solar panels with independent systems for water collection and treatment. Photo / Supplied
The 100sqm floor plan is small but perfectly formed, with potential for expansion, should the new owner so wish. “It is a two-beddy but you could easily build another one of those on the property to increase the size of it.”
Sustainability and efficiency add to the ingenuity of the design. The building is off the grid, powered by solar panels with independent systems for water collection and treatment.
Greenwood believes the buyer will be somebody who is looking for an escape from their busy lives and someone who has always dreamed of having a coastal retreat in such an incredible location.
75 Greenside Road in Medlands Beach, Great Barrier Island, Hauraki Gulf Islands, is on the market and for sale by negotiation.
- Sponsored by Bayleys
