A beautiful Great Barrier retreat is named the last Home of the Year 2019 finalist

Introducing the sixth and last finalist in Home of the Year 2019 – a beautifully resolved retreat on Great Barrier Island which reimagines form and familiar bach living

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Project: Pinwheel House
Practice: Architecture+
Location: Great Barrier Island

Sitting in good company alongside our two other retreats in Queenstown and Arrowtown, the last finalist the countdown to Home of the Year 2019 is a beautifully detailed getaway on Great Barrier.

The clients of this home by Stuart Gardyne of Architecture+ wanted a courtyard house, but planning regulations scuttled that idea: instead, upstairs bedrooms overhang a series of decks below in a ‘pinwheel’ plan, creating a series of sheltered outdoor rooms. It’s an urbane, restrained exercise in perfect geometry.

As part of their cross-country tour of the Home of the Year shortlist, judges Simon Farrell-Green, Lance and Nicola Herbst (winners in 2016 and 2018), and Paraguay’s Gloria Cabral visited Pinwheel House and was impressed by the home’s sense of interiority. “It’s a…highly resolved house that feels spare and calm, but also welcoming,” says Simon.

Watch the video above to take a tour and hear what the judges loved about this house from HOME editor Simon Farrell-Green.

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More Home of the Year finalists

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Project: Wynyard Central
Practice: Architectus
Location: Wynyard Quarter, Auckland

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Project: Diagrid House
Practice: Jack McKinney Architects
Location: Grey Lynn, Auckland


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Project: X-Marks
Practice: Spacecraft Architects
Location: Southgate, Wellington


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Project: Arrowtown House
Practice: RTA Studio
Location: Arrowtown, Central Otago


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Project: Bivvy Hut
Practice: Vaughn McQuarrie Architects
Location: Queenstown, Central Otago

With very special thanks to our principal sponsor Altherm Window Systems.

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