Source: Landmark Homes
Landmark Homes has built its April Fools “architecturally designed dog house” for real. It’s on display at the Auckland Home Show, raffle tickets are $5, and every dollar goes to the SPCA.
On 1 April this year, Landmark Homes announced it was expanding its Ready to Build collection with a range of architecturally designed dog houses. Premium finishes, clever layouts and seamless indoor-outdoor flow, “for maximum zoomies, of course.”
It was a joke. Then the messages started arriving.
“People genuinely loved it,” says Landmark Homes Central and West owner Warwick Aldridge. “We had people messaging to say the house looked amazing and asking when they could order one. So we thought, why not build it?”
So they did. The finished dog house, built by the Landmark Homes Auckland team, will be on the Landmark Homes stand [number] at the Auckland Home Show, Auckland Showgrounds, and one visitor will take it home. Raffle tickets are $5, with every dollar raised going to the SPCA.
“Nobody needs a designer dog house, but everyone wants one, and this one goes to a very good cause,” says Warwick.
Landmark Homes became an official SPCA Business Supporter earlier this year, and the dog house is the Auckland team’s way of getting behind the partnership. “Landmark Homes is a family company, and for most Kiwi families that family includes a dog or a cat,” says Warwick. “The SPCA is Landmark’s charity of choice nationally, and we wanted to do something local, fun and a bit different to support them.”
The first tenant to test it was Derek, who moved straight into the master suite and gave it the wag of approval. The team took the joke seriously. The dog house stays true to the April Fools design, in a new colour, and took around ten hours to build. “We took the April Fools render as the brief and built it, the way we would for any client,” says Warwick.
“Good proportions, a proper roof, indoor-outdoor flow, and materials that will last.”
Materials were donated by ITM, Carpet Court and Vue Master Windows and Doors, and the finished home comes fully furnished with a dog bed and accessories.
Raffle tickets are $5 and available on the Landmark Homes stand throughout the show. The winner will be drawn at the end of the show and the dog house delivered to its new owner.