Stylish homes open as a fundraiser

A peek inside eight "designer homes" in and around Alexandra is offered this weekend, as the house owners or trustees throw open the doors for a fundraising tour.

"There's something there to interest everyone. They're unique homes, representing a wide range of styles and different designers, from the 1940s to a home built last year," tour organiser Esme Kilgour said.

The self-drive tour on Saturday will raise funds for the multipurpose theatre to be built in the former Pioneer Park pavilion, next to Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery. The theatre will be used for lectures and concerts as well as doubling as a cinema, Mrs Kilgour said.

Henderson House, overlooking the Clutha River, is one of the places on the tour.

The house, the Alexandra base for an artist in residence programme through the Henderson Arts Trust, was designed by Austrian architect Ernest Plischke in the 1950s. It has recently been renovated.

Henderson Arts Trust trustee Grahame Sydney will be there on Saturday to give a brief talk about the architect at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

Numbers for the tour are limited and there are two options - a silver ticket, which includes a Devonshire tea, or a gold ticket which includes Devonshire tea, as well as wine and nibbles at the end of the tour. Tickets are available from Central Stories and ticket holders will be given a brochure on the day marked with the location of the homes.

"We thought this would be something different for a fundraiser. There's so many interesting houses in this area and we thought locals and visitors here over the long weekend would enjoy the chance to have a closer look at them," Mrs Kilgour said.

Two of the other homes featured include a log home and a schist house near Alexandra, designed by A2 design studio, built around a giant rock. The latter house took two years of planning and five years to build and is made from centuries-old materials, including Oregon beams imported into New Zealand in 1862.

The schist throughout the house was reclaimed from the original Clyde hospital and the timber is reclaimed kauri and rimu. The second storey of the home sits around the rock and the wine cellar below is carved into the rock.

The focus of the fundraising, the multipurpose theatre project, is the result of three organisations joining forces - the cultural centre trust, Central Stories and Central Cinema.

The Designer Homes Tour, Saturday, February 4, noon-4pm.