View from the hill

With its wide eaves, low-pitched roof and walls of timber-framed glass, there is little mistaking one of the primary influences on the design of the distinctive Kennett/Maher house on the coastal hills of Christchurch.

Indeed, Peter Maher and Elizabeth Kennett are admirers of Frank Lloyd-Wright, one of the most influential 20th-century architects, but they say that the geography of the site and the caveats placed on it by the previous owners also had a major influence on the building’s design. They should know, the couple designed it – and Peter pretty much built it himself.

Peter and Elizabeth bought the 650sqm section in 2002 on Sumner’s Clifton Hill after the former Anglican nunnery’s holiday house was demolished and the land divided into three. The next few years were spent