The New York dream. A loft. Light. Style. Or perhaps a little something more? A three storey conversion of an old Jewish school? Sparse beauty over an art gallery. Pinch me. I really am dreaming. Both by Labo Design Studio.

Seduced by black and brass. Kitchen by Catherine Kwong Design.

A simple modern family home with mid century riffs. Mono-pitch roof, walls of glass, colour blocks and sunken lounge. It’s about catching the sun and taking in the views. Sleeping zones at either end of the 4m wide building are connected by living areas that open to a sunny patio. Easterbrook House in Titirangi, Auckland by Dorrington Atcheson Architects.

Maybe but I still love it. North Fitzroy extension by Melbourne based Pleysier Perkins.

P.S.When did hipster become a derogatory term? I must have missed the original memo because I’ve always wanted to be one but never quite made the grade 😉

It seems the holidays are over and it’s time to get back to work. Nose to the grindstone, bum up. Excuse me while I escape the drudgery of the workaday on day one of my return by slipping between the pages of latest fab book to land on my coffee table. Down the long driveway, you’ll see it.

“… a book of pictures of modernist, mid-century New Zealand homes. The houses aren’t new, they’re old and lived in. They can be a little dusty, slightly worn around the edges and all have what antique dealers like to call “patina”. But they’re perfect in the minds of the people who live in them because of what they represent, which when designed, was a better way of living.”

Photographer Mary Gaudin, along with writer Matthew Arnold, hasn’t so much documented the architectural details of the homes but explored their being through her evocative images. It’s about house and site and home and life and aging and fulfilling promise. My copy is dog-eared already. So if you still have some of the money Santa gave you or even as a belated present to yourself then Down the long driveway, you’ll see it is a must.