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REVIEW: Don’t we all have a favourite holiday place and a dream that perhaps one day we could live there? If not now, then maybe in retirement. For most of us, that never happens, for a lot of reasons, including the cost, and the distance from families, friends and medical care.
But Moving Houses follows a Hamilton couple, Lorraine and Bud, who are doing just that. With retirement looming the pair, who emigrated from England in the ‘70s, have bought a great corner section on a hill just outside Raglan, and they’ve ordered a new build to pop on there.
Interesting side bar – because the Rangitahi “sustainable” subdivision has a lot of native plantings and bush, it’s a cat-free zone. Something we will no doubt be seeing more of in due course. And equally interesting, the subdivision has banned the use of polystyrene block and foundations. But the plastic pod system for foundations are OK.
TVNZ 1
This must be the easiest way to get a new build – on the back of a truck. Moving Houses show Lorraine and Bud’s retirement home going up in Raglan.
Lorraine and Bud have holidayed here a lot: “There isn’t a bad day in Raglan,” Bud says. They have the right attitude.
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They paid $465,000 for the 594m² site. They count 14 black houses already in the subdivision, so theirs won’t be black. In fact, their house is an off-white shade with light cedar accents. The skewed “tilt” roof is the same colour. It’s a little bland but nothing some decent landscaping won’t fix.
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Lorraine and Bud are pictured with presenter Clarke Gayford outside their home in the new “sustainable” Rangitahi subdivision. They chose to paint their house white to be different from all the black houses in the area.
The 130m² “turn-key” house has been built by Elevate Homes in Cambridge and is sitting in their yard. We get to see inside, and this is kind of back-front – in other Moving Houses shows, we don’t get to see the reveal until after the house has moved (and renovated).
They have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open-plan interior that makes presenter Clarke Gayford compare it to a decent-sized bach. Lorraine was a little unsure about the use of yellow brick-style tiles on the splashback, but was encouraged to go for it by her designer daughter, and she loves the look.
What will it cost?
The house is costing them around $500,000 with the $36,000 move on top of that, which makes the all-up cost of their retirement home by the sea just over $1 million.
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The 130 sqm house was wrapped in plywood to protect it from damage during the 91km trip from Cambridge to Raglan. The open-plan living area is in the centre of the house, with bedrooms at either end.
Lorraine and Bud hope to be in their house a week after it’s delivered, which seems incredibly optimistic, when you consider all the stuff that needs to be hooked up. They do have tradies in the family who will be helping.
This whole project seems pretty straightforward for Moving Houses – we are used to more gnarly moves. At 7.2m wide and 18m long, the house is large, and the roof is high, but it has been made to order, so they can’t have got that wrong, surely.
They add protection to the house – timber covers the gutters and wraps over key features. The moving company Easy Moves requests an additional row of ply around the walls, because the road is windy, and there will be trees en route.
The skewed design of the tilt roof means it is high on both sides, which will be an added hassle for the movers – there is no low point.
TVNZ 1
That’s 52 tonnes sitting up on posts, just three days before the owners moved in.
It’s one of the largest loads we have seen on a truck, and it’s bulky and awkward to manoeuvre, especially corners that involve right angles or roundabouts. Lorraine and Bud are waiting at the top of the hill to offer them a cup of tea in the wee hours, but they’re running late, and the truck just flies on by.
The couple follow behind, so they witness part of the timber protection snapping off under a tree. But it’s the turns that pose the problems, and the bridge, with 10cm clearance over the sides.
Then they have to negotiate a protected pohutukawa, which cannot be pruned or damaged. The house is raised and lowered bit by bit to squeeze through. It takes 20 minutes.
Then they arrive on site, and the 52-tonne house has to be lowered onto the foundations. It’s nerve-wracking for the owners. We see just how clever these multi-wheel trailers are, with each wheel able to be moved independently to accommodate different heights on the ramp edge.
There are a couple of cracks in the interior plaster, but they were warned it would happen. It’s not too bad.
Three days later they move in
And eight weeks later Gayford is back to see how they’ve settled – and it turns out they were in the house in a mere three days, which has to be some kind of record. There’s now a deck, which Bud is building gradually.
And the house is looking great inside. The views are the talking point, of course. Just perfect. “That’s our artwork now,” Lorraine says.
We can’t show you “after” house photos as none were supplied. But here is an Instagram post of the development, which gives you an idea of the location and views:
And the budget? They went over by $100,000, due to the site engineering required to live in a high-wind zone. So that makes the entire build, including section around $1.1 million.
It wasn’t a cheap option, but it would still have cost less than building on site in that location. And they’re happy, which is the main thing.
Moving Houses screens on TNVZ 1 on Tuesdays at 7.30pm and on TVNZ+
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