Island time

 

Cathy Gould and Roger Donald have a delicious dilemma. Weekends see them enjoying the good life at their beachfront retreat an hour’s drive north of Auckland. It’s so perfect there they feel they might never want to go back to town.

And why would they? From the moment they started planning for a new contemporary home on the coast at Omaha, their inspiration was to create a private resort. “We wanted to feel that we were coming to our own little hotel,” says Cathy.

The couple have a love affair with the islands of the South Pacific, enhanced by Roger’s affinity for the patients of his south Auckland general medical practice. “We wanted to make a connection with the Pacific by bringing the art of the islands back here and creating a New Zealand house with a Pacific flavour,” says Cathy.

 

They first spotted the section on a “tiki tour” of the area with friends and stood on the roof of the car to get the full benefit of the site’s fabulous views. The land looks out to the ocean and nestles up against a reserve that includes a historic Maori midden, one of 20 or more along this stretch of coastline.

“We had a picnic here the next day and by that night we’d bought it,” Cathy recalls. The following month they sold their previous house at Omaha “so the money was ready and waiting in the bank”.

“We knew that the footprint was going to be tight so we paced it out, drew up our plans and Roger made a scale model out of balsa wood – he studied maths and physics at university and he just loves
that sort of thing.” 

Architectural draughtsman Martin Harnish was called on to turn the plans into working drawings. “Martin made everything we wanted work. He ‘got it’ right from the start,” says Cathy admiringly.

 

Equal billing goes to Dave Shields of Trendsetter Plants, who was introduced by Martin. Cathy wanted a lush tropical garden to complement the relaxed Fijian bure look of the house, created by dark shutters, cedar battening over marine ply and plastered walls.

Flourishing exotic kentia palms now line up with natives and each Labour weekend colourful crotons come home from the nursery, where they have wintered over, to “bring the garden alive”. Handsome purple and green roya are also favourites; Cathy cossets them under covered cloches during the colder months. Tropical and Australian frangipani fill the garden with their heady perfume.

Cathy’s green fingers have been passed down from two grandmothers and a mother – all keen gardeners. For the past year she has directed her passion into the Garden to Table pilot programme (NZ House & Garden, Down to Earth, July 2009) in a south Auckland primary school, turning up weekly to teach gardening skills to nine and 10-year-olds.

“I simply love to see the kids learn the magic of gardening. Our point of difference is being able to work with the children to grow, harvest, prepare, cook and share the fruit and vegetables and then sit down and eat them. They are learning so much and sharing social skills.”

The Omaha/Matakana area is well known for its abundant fresh produce which contributes to the beach-easy entertaining Cathy and Roger enjoy. 

“Friends come up for the weekend and we visit the markets and vineyards. Omaha Bay is currently our favourite for its beautiful platters, wine and amazing views. We also love to swim, kayak in the estuary and bike down to pick up fresh strawberries.”

Roger takes the runabout out fishing for snapper, gurnard and John Dory but it’s 19-year-old Sam Gould’s spear diving that usually bags the best harvests. (Sam’s siblings, Tom, 23, and Laura, 26, are currently in New York and London.)

“It’s not a very big house but there are so many places to go in it,” says Cathy. “We love entertaining here because we can open it up to become one big indoor/outdoor room. That was our original vision. We spend evenings sitting around the outdoor fireplace and in the winter there’s a cosy TV room. It’s very natural, textural and casual – the absolute opposite of our home in the city, which is a three-storey historic villa one minute away from Ponsonby Road. Nothing here would go at home and vice versa. I can’t believe I’m so lucky [to enjoy both].”

 

Cathy and Roger have a collection of New Zealand art that enhances their home’s natural beauty, to which Cathy has added her own photographs and displays of found treasures. Shells, feathers, sea eggs, birds’ nests and a painted plank that washed up onto the beach are all artfully arranged and displayed. 
Her latest endeavour is creating shell mirrors and chandeliers, which led to an exhibiton in November of a dozen large mirrors and lighting pieces at Design 55 in Upper Queen Street, Auckland. Much of their contemporary furniture and accessories came from the same studio, as well as from Newmarket store Mid Century Design. 

 

Pieces that the couple have come across on their island sojourns are also part of the mix, including screens, baskets and lamps. On a recent trip to the Cook Islands, Cathy fell under the spell of local ladies sewing colourful tivaevae and spent several leisurely afternoons learning quilt-making skills. Her summer task is to complete her first tivaevae – that’s if she’s not too busy staring out to sea and dreaming her days away in her own coastal paradise.