How long does a full estate commission take?

Four to five years from first conversation to handover. The process runs across six phases: Invitation, Survey, Design Atelier, Build, Handover, and Stewardship.

How many estates do you build per year?

One estate per commission cycle, three Banya Estates per year, and a curated number of Artisan commissions. This scarcity is not a marketing claim. It is the maximum a single master craftsman can deliver without compromising the work.

Do you build only in New Zealand?

Yes. The workshop and operations are based in Auckland, and commissions are built on your land anywhere in New Zealand.

Is Siberian Timber Craft's timber carbon-negative?

Yes. Every cubic metre of solid timber sequesters approximately 798 kg of CO2. Our estates begin their life with a negative embodied-carbon footprint compared to concrete or steel alternatives.

How do I begin a commission?

Submit a private enquiry through the Pathway page, or write directly to hello@handscribed.co.nz. Our Directors respond within forty-eight hours, and if there is alignment we arrange a private thirty-minute call with Ilia.

Portrait, Ilia Zubko

Your Craftsman

Ilia Zubko

The rarest timber craftsmanship in the Southern Hemisphere, dedicated entirely to your vision.

20+ Years Mastery · Siberia to Aotearoa

Discover what twenty years
of mastery can do for your home.

When you commission a Siberian Timber Craft estate, you gain access to the only practitioner of authentic Siberian hand-scribing working at estate scale in the Southern Hemisphere. This depth of craft doesn't exist elsewhere, and it's placed entirely at the service of your vision.

If you know a more qualified Siberian log craftsman in this hemisphere , we'd genuinely love to meet them. They're welcome to join our initiative.

The Depth Behind Your Home

Rooted in a tradition
most will never experience

The craftsmanship behind your estate draws from something rare, a tradition learned not in a classroom but in the forests of Siberia, beginning at the age of twelve. Timber is not treated as a product. It is understood as a living medium. It breathes. It moves. It remembers. And when it's shaped by hands that have listened to it for twenty years, you feel the difference the moment you walk inside.

"The timber remembers the hands that shaped it. I build so that my work speaks long after I am gone."Ilia Zubko

Every joint in your home carries the knowledge of centuries, hand-cut joinery, timber harvesting, traditional curing techniques. This was deepened through formal technical education and years of building cabins and saunas designed to endure the harshest winters on earth. That depth of understanding is now applied, in its entirety, to your project.

Ilia and team hand-scribing logs on the New Zealand site

Ilia at Work, Hand-Scribing on Site

Siberian Joinery, Close-Up Detail

Refined for New Zealand

Ancient craft, adapted
for your land and climate

Your estate benefits from a rare fusion: centuries of Siberian craft tradition, evolved specifically for New Zealand's climate, building standards, and modern comfort. This evolution began when Ilia was invited to build a custom 1.5-story log cabin here, a project that demanded Siberian mastery applied to an entirely new environment.

Further refined through work alongside Lockwood, one of New Zealand's most recognised timber home builders, the result is a depth of knowledge spanning two hemispheres. Local timber species, maritime climate demands, NZ building regulations, all understood at the same intimate level as the Siberian traditions they build upon. Both alive in every joint your home will carry.

What You Can Commission

From estates to objects, all bespoke, all yours

Timber Estates

Full-scale residences designed for generations. Hand-scribed from the foundation log to the ridge beam.

Saunas & Wellness

Where the craft tradition began. Traditional barrel saunas, indoor rooms, and full wellness pavilions.

Bespoke Furniture

Tables, beds, shelving, and seating, built with the same joinery you'd find in a million-dollar wall.

Timber Selection

Ilia reads grain the way a sommelier reads a label. He selects each log personally for your project.

Natural Living

A philosophy built around minimising chemicals and maximising the health benefits of timber.

Outdoor Structures

Pergolas, garden offices, pool houses, extending the craft into your landscape.

Log estate construction with temporary bracing in place

Ilia & the Odyssey Team, On Site

Your Team

A partnership built
around your vision.

You're not hiring a builder. You're gaining a partner who will understand your home more intimately than anyone, and who will look after it for as long as it stands. Ilia's mastery is backed by Odyssey's commitment to documentation, transparency, and lifetime stewardship.

From the first conversation to the annual inspections decades later, the same hands that shape your timber are the ones that maintain it. That continuity is something no other builder can offer you.

Ready to explore what's
possible?

A private briefing is your opportunity to sit with Ilia and our Directors, to share your vision, walk through the process, and feel the difference firsthand.

Request Private Briefing