SEAToday.com, Wellington-A house with an incredibly unique design is for sale in New Zealand. How is it not unique? This house can rotate like a carousel with glass walls. Designed and built 35 years ago, by owner Don Dunick, the house is called "The Lighthouse". One full spin takes 33 minutes.
Standing on the Maraetai hillside on the Auckland coast, resting on a two-meter-wide cylindrical steel base, the house design is believed to be the only one in the country. Don Dunick built the house on the advice of his fellow engineers when he was at a loss to think of a house design to build on coastal land. With the rotating house design, Don can enjoy views of the sea or the bush, depending on his preference.
"The advantage is that we can change the view, we can control the sun, we can avoid the wind or welcome it... If there's a storm coming in at night and we don't want it hitting our bedroom window, then we can rotate it," he told The Guardian.
"I was sitting there a few weeks ago and the sun came up and shone on my TV, so I got up and turned it around."
It took Dunick and his colleagues five years to design a system that ensured all services such as water, electricity and sewerage were independent and could rotate with the movement of the houses - something the local council required before they approved the development.
The end result is "the simplest system you've ever seen in your life", says Dunick, adding that it can be adapted to allow the houses to rise and fall, protecting them from natural hazards such as flooding or fire.
Carolyn Hanson of Sotheby's International Realty, said the property, valued at more than one million New Zealand dollars, will be sold through a tender process. Since being listed for sale last week, the property has been flooded with visitors, Hanson said. "There's been a lot of interest from locals and now we're getting international interest."
Dunick, now 80, will be moving to New Zealand from his current home in Australia at the end of this year, and hopes to semi-retire in rural Northland. (DKD)
