Sited on New Zealand’s South Island, Matagouri House nestles into the undulant lowlands between Lake Wakatipu to the west and the snow-capped (and aptly named) Remarkables mountain range to the east. Auckland-based architects Fearon Hay, which also has a studio in Los Angeles, wanted the house’s massing and position to engage the extraordinary 360-degree views while deferring to the landscape’s virgin character and sense of remoteness. Firm directors Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon were intent on preserving not only the rolling topography of this 2.6-acre site, but also its existing matagouri plants—thorny native shrubs or small trees that can live more than 100 years. Though this vegetation is not legally protected, says Hay, “people here tend to show respect and sensitivity toward the slow-growing and long-lived matagouri.” The resulting 4,470-square-foot house’s simple rectangular forms are set into two hills. Spanning them, a horizontal timber-structured roof effectively raises the ground plane one story: mounded with earth and planted with the same dry native grasses as its surroundings, it echoes the terrain’s natural contours. So begins the gentle dialogue between building and landscape that informs the entire project.
