” John and his team were extremely professional in their approach, especially since it was an old 1963 warehouse!

 Having worked with him on a previous project, we knew he had the vision and skills to create a unique home for us using quality materials.  We worked together at all stages to realise this home and we are thrilled with the outcome. “ 

” Going into the renovation and extension of our Ian Athfield home, we knew we wanted to respect what was built in the past but we also wanted to make the house ours – not a pastiche of what Athfield designed at the time. John walked us through this process sensitively and helped coach us through the whole experience. We particularly enjoyed how he took time to get to know us, how we like to live, and the things we like to do and have in our lives. “ 

” We’d known John from twenty years ago, when he arranged the colours and designs for the interior of our restaurant in Wellington (Serrano’s). In the years since, we’d seen more of his great work pop up. It was an easy decision to trust John with conceptualising our extension dreams. We loved the way he approached our thinking and helped with the visualisation of our ideas. “ 

” We had a great site with a 270 degree vista, located in the hills of Melrose in the eastern suburbs of Wellington. But one of us was a stripped-back modernist, while the other was a woody, whimsical romantic. What to do? We interviewed several architects without gelling…. but in-depth conversations with John Mills resulted in a design that reconciled our mutual desires. “ 

” This is a great home to live in. It’s a pleasure coming up the driveway seeing the house bathed in all day sun, and the inviting deck. While many might not have seen how this property adapted to a unique living environment, John had that vision and we are reaping the benefits. This home is not replaceable; it is more than a home to us, it is now our lifestyle. “ 

” Working with John is like collaborating with your best friend who knows everything about you, what you like and what you don’t. He will nudge you in the right direction if you seem to be getting too far away from exquisite taste. Your best friend loves to spend time with you, is kind, and always wants the best outcome for you, right? That’s John “ 

” Our Mount Victoria home is the culmination of four years of enjoyable work led by John. From the initial discussion determining what we wanted, through the resource and building consent stages, and on to the construction, John guided the team through to the final completion of our renovated house, which has become the wonderful home that we love. “ 

” Having had the pleasure of working with JMA in previous projects as the building contractor, it was a rewarding experience working with John to push each other and experiment a little on my own home. I was really pleased with the outcome our combined expertise created.  I am proud of the end result we created in collaboration.  Darryn Lyons, D A Lyons Building Contractors Limited “ 

” I enjoyed having John work with us to design our house. The original house was old and odd, and he really helped us transform it into something modern, open and really enjoyable to live in. He imparted some really unique design touches but also the elements that were important to me to help make it a very inviting and practical home. He is great to deal with and I really appreciated how well he conveyed his ideas and concepts to me, with artistic drawings and explanation. What resulted was a testament to his architectural design, Darryn’s building expertise and my few little ideas and desires – all culminating in a remarkable build. “