About the Mudfish Bach

Some years ago Karen bought a Steve Fullmer mudfish for Michael's birthday. Mr Mudfish is a pretty funky character and it soon became obvious that he didn't fit in with the décor and axminster carpet in our 1950's farmhouse. We decided he was much better suited to a bach at the beach.

A bach is a traditional New Zealand (Kiwi) holiday home. Typically, a bach was in a beautiful location, usually by the sea and of fairly simple structure and furnishings.

The Mudfish Bach is in a gorgeous location, but modern day building materials combined with home-grown timber and quality furnishings set the Mudfish apart from its forbears.

And so the dream to build a beachfront home began, along with the search for a site. We found the site in 1996 and after several glasses of wine, the first sketch of the proposed building was drawn on the back of an envelope. Six years later, with surprisingly few refinements, that sketch became the blueprint of the Mudfish Bach.

Our aim was to create a classy yet simple relaxed space with a distinct New Zealand bach flavour. We were also influenced by the existing manuka and native bush on site and worked to blend the building into nature rather than impose on it.

In the winter of 2001 we milled our own Lawson Cypress and Siberian Spruce off the orchard ready for the building project to begin in May 2002. The Siberian Spruce has been used for framing, the eaves and barge boards are Lawson Cypress. The timber floor and doors have been made from a Macrocarpa tree that Michael's grandfather grew from seed he planted in 1918.

The use of these timbers gives the bach a real sense of connection with Michael's long family history in the area and along with its simple design contributes to our desire to retain the character of the kiwi bach by the beach. We believe we have captured the "feel" we wanted and have created a soothing environment for ourselves and Mr Mudfish to enjoy.

We now want to share our dream with you so sit back, kick off your shoes and we hope you enjoy your time at the Mudfish Bach as much as we do.