Lay of the land

A home always tells the story of those who inhabit it, but it can also pay homage to where it stands. Sally McDonald and her husband Nick O’Dea embraced a connection to the land when they built their family home on the clifftops in Moturoa, New Plymouth. Perched high above the rugged coastline, they love to look out over to the port and ocean waves below.

The New Plymouth-based couple bought the section in 2017, drawn to the site for its ability to be subdivided and build new, which they did two years later. Now the four-bedroom home is home to the family of five. “We moved into the existing house (which was later sold) on the site while we built; it was the first big project we undertook together.”