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Treasure quest P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G GS
Bryony Puketapu and Woody Hay live in a cute two-storey home in Brooklyn. Upstairs is a curated collection of curios, antiques and handmade creations. Downstairs are boxes full of ‘treasures’. Francesca Emms visited these selfconfessed hoarders.
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ryony and her husband Woody sit in their sunny, open plan living-dining-kitchen area. Floyd, a six-year-old French bulldog, is napping (and snoring quite loudly) under an embroidered portrait of himself. A two-year-old human, Hendry, is also napping. He’s in his little toddler bed, with sheets and duvet made by his mum, snuggled up with Marvin the monkey and Billy Pig Pig. The door to Bryony and Woody’s bedroom is open, affording a flash of hot pink down the hinge stile and a peek at a metal bed frame (an auction find of Bryony’s). The two bedrooms and bathroom are on the same level as the large living area. Off to the side is a steep staircase leading down to a ‘rabbit warren’ of storage rooms, and a guest bedroom. Since moving into their Brooklyn home three years ago Bryony and Woody have done some superficial work on it, though they originally planned more. ‘We had a full kitchen drawn up, ready to go and then all of a sudden − Hendry. So that put a little bit of a spanner in the works,’ says Woody. The bank on the western side of the property had been used as a dumping ground, so they’ve cleared away all the rubbish and planted native trees and shrubs. They’re looking forward to having some privacy from the road once it all grows a bit higher. There are a number of potted plants inside the house. Bryony gives them names: ‘If they have a name, they've got direction, they can grow.’ Mortimer the monstera hangs out by the front door; apparently he’s pretty chill. But the peace lilies, Lilly Wane and Lilith Crane, are quite competitive – ‘they have flower-offs.’ There’s a staghorn fern called Bambi in their bedroom, and an unnamed snake plant. ‘I'm not that
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