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Otaki businesswoman Shelley Macrae was never going to leave the sunny riverside cottage in Waikanae where she’d been happy for 21 years. But her partner, Alan Pye, needed more room to start a new business. He needed, he said, “at least three garages and a lot more space”.
At that stage, Alan was working in the real estate business and had spent a lot of time showing buyers around a property with a 10-year-old home at nearby Manakau. One day the penny dropped. “After telling countless people about the possibilities the property afforded, I suddenly thought, ‘Hang about. This is the answer for us’,” says Alan.
At the time, the outside cladding of the house was spray-textured HardiTex sheet. The interior walls and ceilings were in a varnished tongue and groove – not dissimilar to a Lockwood home. The garden was magnificent, but it wasn’t enough to convince Shelley: “I didn’t want to move.”
But Alan’s needs won the day, the move was made and – after an initial hiccup when they almost moved back to Waikanae because the cat didn’t like it – the couple set about creating their dream home.
“Think lodge,” says Shelley, who admits to having stolen her ideas from places where she has stayed during overseas jaunts. The couple’s regular trips to Europe are made to select fabric for the neckties produced at Shelley’s Otaki factory.
“The house had good bones,” says Alan, “and what we’ve done is knock down walls, change outlooks and clear a bit of clutter.”
A major aim has been to open the house up to the uninterrupted views of Kapiti Island and the magnificent sunsets. When they return home after work, Shelley and Alan like to sit back and take it all in – in winter, that’s with wine in hand in front of the roaring outdoor fire; in warmer weather, lounging in the bath-tub in a corner of their bedroom, with the windows thrown wide open.
First to go during their makeover of the house was the farm-style kitchen. The pink benchtops were replaced by stainless steel and dark wood cabinetry was installed. Walls were removed, opening the room up to the rest of the living area. Aluminium joinery was taken out and eight French and bifold doors were installed.
An old Kapiti College schoolmate was called in to rid the house of its varnished wood interior: the wood was treated and then painted in the neutral tones favoured by the couple.
The outside walls were clad to accommodate creosote – Shelley is a big fan of the look – and the lodge effect was finished off with stone cladding and wooden shingles.
Then it was time to tackle the garden. It stretched over 1.2ha, full of the best plants money can buy, but was too cluttered for Shelley and Alan.
“We wanted a garden that suited our lifestyle,” says Shelley. “We wanted to be out enjoying it with friends and family, but with full-time jobs we just couldn’t manage it as it was.”
Box hedges and standard ‘Iceberg’ roses were ripped out and trees removed to open up the expanse of lawn and allow the Kapiti views to work their magic. Members of the local gardening club were asked in to take what they wanted as the ground was cleared for a lavender walk and pétanque court.
A more recent project has been an outdoor room with a huge open fire and barbecue – already the scene of many convivial late-night gatherings. “No worries about the neighbours here,” says Shelley.
So, would they do it again? “Yes,” says Alan, a man who likes a challenge. “But next time with a proper, fully thought-out plan.” Not having a complete renovation plan at the start meant the project cost more and took longer, he says.
Shelley wonders if the relationship would survive another major renovation, but concedes she’s been grateful for Alan’s enthusiasm and determination to turn their ideas into reality.
The sunny riverside cottage in Waikanae is now a distant memory and Shelley and Alan report finding it increasingly hard to leave their Manakau home for another European buying trip. If Florence and Paris no longer appeal, you would have to call this move a resounding success.
Story: Sue Burgin
Photographs: Paul McCredie
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