Matai House in Canada: A 1900’s Villa With a Lovely Modern Addition

There comes a time in our lives when we would face certain changes in the family. Of course, the family would grow bigger and bigger through the years. Elders and babies would come to the family who have different needs that requires special attention. Also, as time pass, the lifestyle of the family may change. All these would have an effect to the home where a family lives. That is why some would require a renovation or an addition to their homes.

This is what happened to the home called Matai House. A family lives in an early 1900’s Villa that already undergone various alterations through the years. When you look at it, it is just a simple house design with rooms on each side of the hallway while the launder, kitchen and toilet are at the rear part. But the design of the house appears like the rear area is disconnected to the home. Aside from that, the growing family needs extra living space and additional two bedrooms. With this, this villa in Wellington, New Zealand was renovated with additional spaces.

The exterior of the 1900’s Villa looks like this. Yes, it looks like a usual family home in the village. But with the addition at the rear part, it looked even more beautiful!

Seen here is the rear part of the house where you can find an internal courtyard.

The same corrugated color steel as the old house was used for the roof and walls of the extension.

You can see here a sliding door that leads to a sunken dining area. It appears this way because the part with wooden deck is elevated from ground level.

This living area looks amazing with the choice of colors and furnishings. Love the idea of sung one part of the elevated steps as bench.

This is actually the new living space that is located directly at the end of the villa hallway. It is visible from the front door with the steps and a raised clerestory roof.

Above the living space are two new bedrooms and a bathroom.

One interesting feature I can see here is the design of the staircase.

You can see that it has a staircase leading up and down from this living area.

And this is the staircase which is carpeted with a beautiful wooden railing.

Of course, the planning of the house involved the clients. Because of their needs, the Parsonson Architects decided to divide the house in two, the old villa and the new extension. It was connected with a series of concrete platforms with wooden steps creating a new elevated family living space that leads to the courtyard. All in all, the new design was beautiful and it turned very functional for the family. Lovely, isn’t it?