The Architect's Shed in the heart of the Wairarapa

Welcome to Carterton & the Wairarapa - only 1.25 hours north east from Wellington and yet a completely different climate: warmer and less wind! Welcome to our home - an open plan 'shed' designed along passiv haus principles. It is lofty and bright with all day sun - and with the super-insulated double walls & triple glazing to maintain a comfortable temperature winter or summer & with a very low energy footprint.

Our home is art filled and furnished with mid century & upscaled/ repurposed industrial objects to reflect our eclectic tastes and is filled with art & objects collected from around the world. It is a relaxing and comfortable home with carefully considered details and a few surprises. There are two sleeping spaces in our home, each with a new queen-size bed. The main sleeping space is a self contained annex with ensuite and large walk-in wardrobe. The guest sleeping space is behind a big freestanding bookshelf to the side of the living room with an adjacent secret door access to main bathroom. When friends and guests are in residence, the main bathroom is closed off for exclusive access and use from the secret door side. Depending on the needs of our friends & guests we can move into either the annex or the second sleeping area when we are hosting.

When we are travelling, then our home is available for longer stays and can accommodate two couples with both sleeping spaces available - ask us about availability for longer stays and discounted rates. Typically, we are offering Bed & Breakfast style of accommodation over long weekends, but we are flexible and shall consider other requests and/or longer stays - just ask!

The landscape garden is well established now with several private and semi-private areas, a huge deck platform in the sun, a terrace under a big grape covered pergola and large areas of flat lawn to lay about on. There are two huge raised vegetable gardens with a constantly changing variety of organic produce to graze on - help yourself! There is a large outdoor table, plenty of furniture and umbrellas and even a BBQ and brazier to hang out beside on the starry nights - Wairarapa is a dark sky town, so even though we're in the centre (it is a small rural town!) the night sky is spectacular. Given the fantastic climate in Wairarapa we dine out under the grapes breakfast lunch and dinner for about 5 months of the year! Our friends & guests can expect an incredible homemade breakfast featuring our home-made toasted muesli, fresh fruit, yoghurt and sourdough bread (homemade from an ancient starter) with jams, jellies & marmalades made from our own fruit.... and of course coffee or tea. We often invite friends & guests to join us for evening meals and we're equally happy if you want to self-cater: an ex-chef here so the kitchen & butlers pantry (ok, second kitchen...) are well stocked to cater for any dietary requirements. We tend to the vegetarian/flexitarian way of eating but we don't judge or impose our 'foodities' on others!, Just let us know your requirements, we are happy to go-with-your-flow! Don't miss out on trying any or all of the 4 legendary cafes & restaurants within walking distance of our place. There are excellent choices for dining in the nearby towns of Greytown, Masterton & Martinborough too.

We look forward to welcoming our guest to Carterton! We can communicate in English & French easily, Spanish & Japanese reasonably and we're great at talking with our hands if all else fails - and a smile goes a long way!