Above Tasman Bay is a T-shaped house with X-factor aplenty. It has ambience and features you’d find in a five-star resort, not that you’d know it from its understated presence. Only a streetside sculpture hints at the treasure within. Because of the sloped site, you enter on the upper floor. Open the handcrafted door to find architectural elements everywhere. On this level are two bedrooms, including a wing comprising the sumptuous main suite. Perforated-steel cladding — a striking component of the exterior — provides privacy where needed. A bathroom, laundry and double garage can also be found up here.

The staircase to the lower level reveals exposed concrete walls, softened by an American white oak handrail and treads. On one side is the third bedroom, a bathroom and the office. On the other, a remarkable L-shaped open-plan space anchored by a moody-hued designer kitchen. The perpendicular dining-living wing juts seaward and culminates in a sunken lounge. Living rooms that open to myriad outdoor spaces, one with a gazebo, capture vistas of the beach, the Nelson hills and, in winter, snow-capped mountains. Steel, glass and surprises (such as a slider with a vivid yellow frame) reinforce the 300sqm home’s X-factor. Back inside, this sumptuous house is toasty, thanks to solar gain, hydronic underfloor heating and warm-roof technology.