On the Street

CBD Eatery co-owner Tania Godsall knows how to make a good impression and prefers to make her own rules when it comes to fashion.

What are you wearing today? Boxhill pants, green shoes, black t shirt and my Ruby and Rain colourful long top/jacket; dressy and casual. My earrings are from Infinite Love.

Do you have a usual style? Funky casual, with funky earrings and makeup, and cool shoes.

What item do you have the most of in your wardrobe? Shoes, earrings and dresses.

What looks or trends do you like now? I love colour, I do my own thing as I’m not really a trend follower.

Where do you buy most of your clothes? Lots of places from all over NZ: McCraes, Red Hot Fashions in Blenheim, Evolve in Picton, lots of places in Christchurch and Chillis in Timaru. I have an awesome friend Chontelle who owns The Cottage in Tauranga and I love her clothes.

What is your favourite all time buy? My red and white dress from Robe, and my Helga May linen dresses, they are the best in the Marlborough summer.

Worst clothing disaster? Never buy when you’re having a bad day, you think you look good in something only to get it home and think, what on earth was I thinking? Shop when you’re happy!

What’s a wardrobe staple everyone should invest in? Black or dark blue dress, something flowy and comfy heels.

Which celebrity’s sense of style do you admire? Iris Apfel, she is 94 years old and wears whatever she wants and looks great doing it. I love people who live life to the beat of their own drum as they say!

Finish this sentence. You would never catch me wearing… anything yellow.

Michael and Jess Rea with Evie and Hugo let us take a look at their stunning Blenheim home. Photos: Ruth Thompson Photography.

My home

Well-known Marlborough real estate salesman Michael Rea and wife Jess Rea help other people find their dream homes. Here they give us a look into what makes their own spacious family home so special.

Where is your home and who lives here, and how long have you lived here? Our home is in the Boulevard on Taylor subdivision. Michael, Jess, daughter Evie and son Hugo, Lockie the dog, Misty the cat, Sparkle the fish and her friends. We moved in just under a year ago. What four words would you use to describe your home? Contemporary, comfortable, spacious and carefully considered. What inspired this look? We both have large families so wanted plenty of room to accommodate dinners, events and visiting friends. There is something calming about clean lines and neutral colours with a touch of moody darks that we enjoy.

What do you love about the neighbourhood where you live? Being on the doorstep of the Wither Hills, the park a few doors down and the Taylor River Walkway borders our section. We are fortunate to have great views East and West. The neighbours are lovely and the neighbourhood is well presented. What piece would you never part with? We aren’t too sentimental about the furniture or belongings. Photos and our memory boxes will always go with us. What’s your favourite spot in the house? There’s no one space that is a definite favourite. We spend a lot of time milling around the kitchen and living area and relaxing in the snug lounge room playing with the kids.

Where do you shop for homewares? We try to shop local when we can, we love Lynfords and Cinnamon House. For pots and plants Indoor Botanicals and Mayflower Studio. Michael is not a big fan of buying online as he likes to touch and feel the items if they’re larger pieces. What’s your decorating style? Most likely described as minimalist or Scandi. We haven’t committed to one look as such but just pick the pieces we like and will complement what we have. When it comes to homeware, do you save or splurge? Splurge on quality pieces that we love and will use often so they last and save where it is temporary or not as important. We have a mix of good quality items and bits and bobs from Kmart/Warehouse throughout the house! Naturally, it comes down to the budget at the time also. Have you done any renovations? No, not really. Being a new build, everything was as we wanted it inside. We have done a huge amount of work outside with landscaping and entertaining areas and there is lots more to go. We got a landscape plan from Christo at Collaborate and we feel it’s some of the best money we invested in making the whole property work together. What’s your favourite room? We really like how the master and ensuite turned out. The dark tiles in the bathroom and the bright leafy wallpaper really complement each other and the big picture window captures beautiful views of the sunset through the trees. What should every home have? If you ask Michael, it’s the bar window and electric attic hoist. Little secrets like our hidden door makes the home special and fun. Our focus was to create spaces where everyone could enjoy whatever mood you’re in. Which items or fixtures did you splurge on and where did you save? We splurged on the wallpaper in the master room, it was hard to find anything we both loved but it is very cool. We also went massively over and above in the kitchen. Sometimes it felt like we didn’t save on anything!

Best money spent? Using professional consultants throughout the process was money very well spent. It’s easy to scare yourself out of a great idea and having an expert providing advice and guidance has made a massive difference. From the design with Michael’s brother, David Rea, at REA Architecture, Ben Stace at Design Marlborough, Simone from Cinnamon House and Christo assisting with the landscaping plan. Do you have any tips on how to keep your living area orderly? Everything having a set place with a drawer, basket or bin helps. Tidying the living and kitchen is a perpetual cycle with a toddler and newborn. All attempts are quickly squashed!

The local builder who loves a good challenge

Morton Building owner, Daniel Morton with wife Amanda and son Blake, making Morton Building a real family affair.

Daniel Morton worked in a sales role straight out of school before deciding to become a builder. “I’ve been building in Marlborough for about 8 years, but after Covid I was made redundant due to many jobs being put on hold” says Daniel. This meant that he and his wife Amanda enjoyed quality family time with their new born son who arrived just before lockdown.

Then in May last year, the dedicated builder went out on his own for the first time and Morton Building began. It started small; with people he knew offering renovation work opportunities and his reputation for a job well done quickly grew. “I also did up a couple of bathrooms, built a hut down in Ward and did some more renos, including a new staffroom and library for Whitney Street School,” Daniel explains. The work continued to grow, to the point where Daniel had to decide on what Morton Building should focus on. Daniel says when they first started they took on “anything and everything” but now they concentrate on residential, architectural and light commercial. “The past year has been pretty full-on. We also did an office fit-out for the chamber of commerce, built some offices for TRS and we recreated an old garage,” he says. With a particular passion for big homes, Daniels specialises in more challenging jobs. Morton Building currently have a unique project in the pipeline involving a bach rebuild in the Marlborough Sounds, a challenge that Daniel in particular is excited to tackle. “With the bach project, we’re demolishing half of it to rebuild it. It’s right on the side of the sea, so it will have its challenges, which we’re really looking forward to.” Daniel is determined the clients will be delighted with the result. “To build something you can drive past in two years and say, ‘man that looks cool’ is very rewarding,” he says. It is the client’s delight with every project that gives Daniel the greatest joy. Hearing positive feedback about work completed by Morton Building is always a boost. The Whitney Street staffroom project springs to mind, he says, because both parents and teachers say it was a cool project to be part of. When he is building a house, Daniel is conscious that it is the owner’s or the architect’s vision he is bringing to life. “When you have a good relationship with the client, they feel involved in the process. I also like to give them updated photos, so they have a fun experience,” he says. A lot of people choose Morton Building because they can do the ‘hard jobs.’ “We can do everything from the concrete floors to putting on the roof – we can do the whole build.” On the weekends, Daniel enjoys spending time with Amanda and Blake and going mountain biking. “I also race go-karts after work.”

These days, Morton Building receives three to four enquiries a week, mostly from referrals, or people who have seen their signs around town. If you are contemplating building, contact Daniel on 027 318 2050.

The elegant and spacious living room gets the best of the light.

The Art Of Architecture

WORDS: SARA HOLLYMAN

HIMI JADE PHOTOGRAPHY

For Benjamin Stace, standing in a home with its owners & enjoying a beverage while admiring the view from their now complete and lived-in spaces is the best part of his job. Founder of Design Marlborough, Ben says it is so rewarding to see clients, who often become friends, enjoying their new space which can often be years in the making. Ben says Design Marlborough are a midpoint between an architect and a draughtsperson and he strives to give clients an architectural look without blowing the budget. They work with a wide range of residential properties from small-scale projects and renovations to large scale new home builds. Ben takes us inside two recently completed builds he designed from the ground up. Both are completely unique, but common themes can be seen and felt across both builds.

Brook Street

On a Brook Street site where an old bungalow was formerly located, homeowners Jenny and Dudley King are now enjoying their new home with unparalleled views of the Taylor River Reserve. “A key feature that Jenny wanted here was to be able to stand at her kitchen sink and look out at the riverbank but still maintain privacy,” says Ben. Jenny says that’s exactly what she got. “I love my kitchen! I have everything at arm’s reach and there are so many cupboards, and yes I love the view, to be able to have that peace and solitude it’s just great.” Ben says envisaging his clients moving through and living in their spaces is quite a simple process thanks to cutting edge 3D modelling technology that the company has invested in. Thanks to this technology Ben says it was easy to define early on in the project exactly where the floor level needed to be to get the right line of sight for Jenny’s view from the kitchen. The Brook Street home is constructed over multiple levels with different floor & ceiling levels throughout. The entryway and living area have raised flooring, while the guest wing with two bedrooms and bathroom is on a slightly lower level, defining these different zones.

Materials that fit in... or stand out

Jenny and Dudley purchased the site in 2010 so a key consideration for them come design time was that they wanted the exterior materials to not jump out from the surrounding builds that had been completed over the past decade. Ben says this involved looking at materials that had been used in the nearby properties which helped them settle on the exterior choices. Coloursteel wrapping from the roof, down the south-facing side not only looks effective but also provides good protection from the elements. The master suite with ensuite and walk-in robe fills the second storey and looks out over the river with a covered balcony that lends itself to an early morning cup of tea taking in the surrounding views, although Jenny says they haven’t quite had the time to enjoy that aspect yet. Downstairs you can’t help but notice the curved wall as a standout feature in the living area. Ben says while it is a feature it also has a practical element. “It’s not a huge living area so instead of squaring off the corner, the curve draws people through the space, to the kitchen and dining areas with the views.”

He says it also has nice composition where it meets the sloping ceiling, and while it may be a little more difficult to construct than a standard 90-degree angle, it is well worthwhile. Clarke and Haack Construction project manager Brad O’Malley, and operations coordinator Tania McCaa, recall the unique aspect of this build process being the sudden impact of COVID-19, and all that ensued. “The project began in January 2020, and there was nothing to suggest that Jenny and Dudley wouldn’t be in by September/October,” they say. Once the team were able to get back to work postlockdown however, they were faced with a new mode of operating and an unprecedented number of challenges and changes throughout the industry. “Everyone needed to adapt to how they worked and it’s a real credit to everybody involved, all of the sub-trades, Ben, and of course Jenny and Dudley – who were able to celebrate Christmas 2020 in their striking new home”.

Open spaces, maximum privacy

With 245sqm of floor area, all design aspects have not only an aesthetic design but practical principles to utilise space. The shape of the section and constraints around an easement led the three-bedroom home to be designed as a longer narrow shape than some standard builds. Lots of windows through the east and west sides of the home assist the spaces in feeling larger and more open and allows you to look right through from one end to the other to take in the views. But with extra window space comes an extra need for privacy, something that was important to maintain throughout the home. “This is where we had an overall landscaping plan from the start,” says Ben. From the beginning, it was decided a block wall would sit along the street frontage of the property, cleverly designed to the exact height that would just block people’s visual into the home from the sidewalk. Ben says the overall landscaping of the section is very much a collaboration and he likes to give suggestions to keep it cohesive with the build. Here, plastered walls match in with the exterior plaster finish of the house, which stretches all the way down to the contrasting shed and workshop which sits at the rear of the 900sqm property. Visible from the living area, Ben wanted to ensure the shed became more of a feature than just a boring old garage. A double sloped roof assisted in making it a standout. Inside the lower area of the home sits the guest wing, which is set up for adult children and grandkids with two bedrooms and a separate living space which also opens onto the patio area. Fully tiled bathrooms, a laundry chute from the master suite down to the laundry and the large scullery round off a long list of creative features in this stunning home. Ben recently popped in to have a coffee with Jenny and says it’s the most rewarding part of the job seeing clients, who become friends through such a long process, enjoying their new home. “To have a glass of wine and stand in the space and see it come to fruition, it’s really rewarding. That’s what drove me towards residential work is seeing that enjoyment.” Jenny says she feels a deep sense of pride when she stands and looks at what they created. “I think we’ve captured what we really wanted in the house, it’s just great.”

Brook Street exterior

Delta Lake Heights

High on a ridgeline overlooking Delta Lake sits Black Ridge, a sprawling 9-hectare property with paramount views of both lake and mountains. Ben says property owners Kate and Dean were quite clear that the fundamental thing they wanted from their home was to enjoy the views of Delta Lake which luckily sits to the North. “This gave us an automatic reference point to work all the living spaces around,” says Ben. The home sits on top of a ridge so a fundamental part of the design of the board and batten home was to protect it from the northwest winds that can howl down the Waihopai Valley. Luckily Kate and Dean contacted Ben before any earthworks had been undertaken, so the decision was made to drop the build site slightly to the east, preserving all of the views, but offering extra protection. Ben says it is never too early for him to come and look at a build site, in fact, the earlier the better for this exact reason. Feature design without blowing the budget. Design Marlborough pride themselves on incorporating good design to provide strong feature points in a home and Ben says he has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve to achieve this without “blowing the budget”. “Delta Lake Heights is one of those examples, the key to this house is it’s all on one-floor level but we used different ceiling heights throughout to really open up the spaces and provide a bit of interest in the design.”

Reach for the sky Reach for the sky

The lighter coloured floor in the kitchen shows off the darker cabinetry to its best advantage.

This is evident when you step through the front doors into an expansive entranceway with high, raised rafted ceilings that feed through a 2.7m stud height hall to then open up the cathedral ceilings in the living spaces and the northern views.

The use of scissor trusses in the living and outdoor areas gives a nice, raised sloping ceiling while being a simple truss construction, keeping it really costeffective. “I try to specialise in feature elements and good design principles in my designs, without going into areas that require crazy engineering. Sticking to standard construction methods and using them well is key to working within reasonable budgets” says Ben.

Two plans, one home

Kate says she and her husband Dean had a reasonably strong idea of what they wanted in a home. “We had a hand-drawn floor plan, and I had my iPad with photos from Instagram of the look we were after,” she says. After the initial site visit in August 2019, Ben drew up a draft concept from the provided floor plan. But he also had some ideas of his own that he thought may work. Ben came back with the original floorplan, which he had tweaked slightly by adding small changes such as extra cupboards. “He just thought of things we didn’t even consider, that were really practical,” says Kate. When he told the couple that he had also drawn a second concept plan that he’d love to share with them, Kate was open to taking a look but didn’t think anything could sway them on something they had put so much thought into. “After seeing it we took it to show the family, but I already knew I wanted the one he had designed. It still looked like what we wanted from the outside, but it was just so much more practical, we’re delighted with how it’s turned out.” The wide, spacious hallway has been designed to allow the couple to turn it into a library, with space for bookshelves on either side or to hang large artworks should they wish. At the end of the hallway sits the laundry with a large window stacker with what Kate describes as amazing views to the mountains.

Modern form, traditional touch.

The kitchen-living is the heart of any home, and the heart of Black Ridge is nothing short of spectacular. Ben says Kate very much wanted a big grand room to be the focus of the home. Central to the kitchen is the brand-new Raeburn wood burner stove which also runs the radiator heaters and heats the hot water for the home. A huge pantry/scullery behind the kitchen allows all the clutter to be hidden away, Ben jokes that the size of it could nearly lend itself to another bedroom. The indoor-outdoor flow of this spectacular 280sqm home is without a doubt one of the standout features. Stacker doors allow the whole living area and the master suite to open right up to the fully covered patio area which almost acts as another, outdoor room. Ben says clever engineering from SENG Engineering

Carefully selected pendant lights make a bold yet stylish statement.

through the living area allowed the views to be absolutely maximised with the large window and door openings. “The view is really what the whole place is about. On a good day allowing all the doors to open up and have that seamless indoor-outdoor flow, it really is an entertainer’s living space.” Board and batten finish with a five-ribbed colour steel roof gives a strong vertical look to the exterior while the black exterior colour scheme makes a bold statement on the hillside tying into the properties name of Black Ridge. Schist veneer cladding around the fireplace adds another traditional vent to the modern home. Kate and Dean had a number of pieces that they wanted to incorporate into their new home aside from the Raeburn cooker. Vintage vanity units in the ensuite and an oversized antique mirror in the entryway all make for a very individual interior. Ben says he always makes sure to get the measurements from any key pieces of furniture clients want to keep hold of and designs spaces around these pieces. From early on, the couple knew they wanted one-of-akind front doors. Having not quite found what they were looking for at the initial stage of design Ben allowed an open space which Kate says made the process far less stressful. “We didn’t have the doors to start with and Ben just said, ‘you get the doors you want and I’ll make sure I design something that will hold them’. It was so great he just made a big area and said, ‘you can have whatever you want’ so we didn’t feel pressure to find something that had to be within a certain constraint,” says Kate. The doors, which were purchased from an auction in Christchurch, before being fully renovated, are nothing short of spectacular. Andrew Lawson of Lawson Homes was the builder of choice for Black Ridge. He says the build all ran smoothly and they managed to get Kate and Dean into their new home by Christmas. “It’s a fantastic outlook up there, a really nice view. The homeowner was decisive and knew what they wanted, we managed to get it all finished pretty quickly.” A common theme that runs through the two news homes is that both couples would not hesitate to work with Ben and Design Marlborough again. Jenny says he made the process easy and after meeting with a few others before Ben, she feels he really understood their vision for the property. “Throughout the whole process he never made us feel like we were intruding, we could call him anytime, and he was so down to earth.” Kate says he remained interested throughout the entire build, visiting the site when the foundations went down, frames went up and when the roof went on, as well as other times along the way. “He made some great suggestions, for instance he recommended we put some louvres in around the living and bedrooms, and I wasn’t sure at the time but I’m so glad we did, they look great and we use them all the time.”