Lomas House

The Lomas House - Designed by Architect Peter Middleton and built in 1954 on the Hamilton lake frontage - as recently purchased by new owners who quickly decided to demolish it.

Photo of kitchen built by Excelsior Residential

In a last minute reprieve, our client Lesley (who had grown up with the Lomas children) had through the years developed a connection with the home and it held precious memories for her. Lesley’s eco-awareness to recycle and reuse rather than waste, and her passion to save this grand old lady presented us with an opportunity to be part of this intriguing project.

The home was to be shifted from the lake frontage to its new site on old Taupiri Road, where it once again faces north overlooking the mighty Waikato River, ready to serve yet another generation or two.

Photo of fireplace built by Excelsior Residential

Excelsior Residential was introduced to this project by Architect Glenn McHardie, Director of Stiles and Hooker Architects and Engineers, where Glenn had been commissioned by Lesley to look after this project. After several days on-site preparing the home, it was quickly realised that shifting the building was not possible, With the removal of precious interior linings, several problems arose making a shift uneconomical.

So David suggested we salvage the home - and that was it! Everything in the home that could be saved was painstakingly labelled and containerised. Larger items like the stairs, pine timber ceilings, twenty oregon roof beams and the like were stored in sheds handy to the new site.

The same foot print was then rebuilt, with the concrete floor including a max raft system - giving insulation to the underside and slab edges to minimise heat loss.

Photo of building being completed by Excelsior Residential

New wall frames with vertical cedar weather boards on a cavity system were installed, along with new roofing iron. Combined with double glazed aluminium windows, the home now meets current standards for weather tightness and insulation.

Re-introducing all the salvaged items back into the home was quite a challenge, but one that was very satisfying. Finding that particular sheet of rimu or mahogany wall lining that had those old holes for the original light fittings, and making sure the electrician got his wire in exactly the right spot, plus lots of other similar instances required a lot of forethought!

As you can see by the photos, the end result was very satisfying from our point of view, but most importantly Lesley was thrilled and overcome with the end result. It was an emotional roller coaster ride - not only for Lesley, but also for the Lomas family. It was great to meet them and experience their reactions when they visited the carefully rebuilt family home they’d grown up in - with her sole still intact!

We’d like to say thank you to Lesley for her resolve and passion, and for choosing Excelsior Residential and our builders Dave, Steve, Colin, Phirun and Peter - an experience we are proud to have been involved in, and a great end result achieved by all.

 
 
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