Welcome to House with No Nails

A labour of love created our spectacular and unique accommodation option in heartland New Zealand. The magnificent yet cozy house was handcrafted by Dewi using construction methods dating back to the 10th century. And there were indeed no nails used in the magnificent timber framing, with the network of beams, rafters and braces interlocked and secured by wooden pegs.This remains exposed for our guests to marvel at and mull over.

Ours is an extraordinary story and you could say it starts with Cyclone Bola back in 1988 which provided the timber – 25 cubic metres of macrocarpa and poplar, plus oak spikes  – for what began as our dream  house in the country. All the timber was hand-hewn by Dewi in a neighbour’s workshop, with a good old-fashioned community “barn-raising” of the frames in 1992.

We made the decision to open our special home for accommodation in 2017. Uniquely New Zealand, we are something out of the ordinary.