There’s nothing we love better than when our very talented, creative friends introduce us to their very talented, creative friends, and this week didn’t disappoint: In our inboxes arrived the most beautiful submission from Mary Gaudin, a New Zealand photographer living in Montpellier, France, who was introduced to us through Brian Ferry, one of Sight Unseen’s contributors and a wonderful photographer in his own right. Gaudin recently published a book on modernist New Zealand homes in collaboration Matthew Arnold of Sons & Co called Down the Long Driveway, You’ll See It; the title is a quote from one of the book’s subjects, upon giving directions to his home. The book documents 14 houses built between 1950 and 1974, and it’s a revelation not only for the beautiful way in which it’s photographed but for the peek it gives into New Zealand’s architectural history.

What makes it particularly appealing to us, of course, is that “the idea for the project wasn’t so much to document the houses in purely architectural terms, but to give an idea of the way these houses were and are lived in, as well as showing details of the designs and the materials used in their construction. The houses aren’t new; they’re old and lived in. They can be a little dusty, slightly worn around the edges and all have what antique dealers like to call ‘patina.’ But they’re perfect in the minds of the people who live in them because of what they represent, which, when designed, was a better way of living.” Read on for a selection of our favorite images, then visit Down the Long Driveway to buy the book — with photos this gorgeous, how could you not?