Of canvas, timber and being under the stars
People often ask Philip Cryer and Deborah Botica whether they get wet in winter on their way to bed.
The bedroom at their Waiheke Island home, you see, is contained in a small cabin wrapped romantically in canvas, a few steps across a courtyard from the main living pavilion. It has a small fireplace of its own, and the shower in the bathroom opens to the outdoors. It’s all very lovely, a sort of permanently inhabited encampment, but the question still arises: isn’t it a pain in winter? “And I say no, I watch the rain radar,” says Cryer. When there’s a shower coming, they go to bed, light the fire and read books.
Cryer likes to
