NZ bachelor pad beach homes get luxury makeover

Auckland

A VACATION home on the beach has long been the embodiment of the New Zealand dream.

Called a bach, an abbreviation of bachelor pad, the traditional version was a modest structure, often haphazardly pieced together of cheap materials like corrugated iron and reused timber. (In the southern portion of the South Island, which has a strong Scottish heritage, they are referred to as cribs.)

Lance and Nicola Herbst, husband and wife architects, arrived in Auckland from South Africa 17 years ago and were surprised to find that almost everyone had one.

"In South Africa, holiday homes were limited to the very wealthy," Mr Herbst said, "but here, ordinary people had access to a 'bach'."

In recent years, however, the dream has become more difficult and expensive to obtain. Building standards have been strengthened, bylaws now regulate the use of coastal properties and the price of waterfront land has skyrocketed. Architects are now often hired to design what their owners, nostalgically, still ca…