Two Barns is a home away from home for an Auckland couple with a passion for skiing and a special connection to New Zealand’s picturesque Cardrona Valley. Key to the luxurious yet relaxing lodge, designed by Space Studio’s Vee Kessner, was the capacity to receive large gatherings of friends and family.  
 
As the name suggests, Two Barns is comprised of two distinct structures – one for living and entertaining and one for accommodation. “The owners envisaged simple barn forms that related to the nature of the Cardrona Valley, which has a rich farming and gold mining history,” says Vee.  
 
Inspired by in the textures and tones of the surrounding environment, the project was brought together cohesively by objects collected during the clients' travels, resulting in a “relaxed, textural barn-inspired aesthetic rather than a contemporary, minimalist aesthetic.” 
 
The kitchen is central to the double-height living space where plastered walls echo the traditional finishes found in the Valley’s historic buildings and carry “through to the soft, textured fabrics in muted tones throughout the spaces.” 
 
Exposed beams amplify the vaulted ceiling while hard furnishings such as local Clutha stone, schist, and fumed oak floors warm the space alongside the leathered Negresco stone benchtop and stained oak veneers, bringing elegant tactility into the room.