14 minute read
COUNTRY RETREAT
from SEffdz
Intent on creating a luxe holiday at home vibe, an Auckland couple took inspiration from coastal Hamptons sophistication and Hawke’s Bay landmark Black Barn Vineyards
Text Debbie Harrison Photography Helen Bankers
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Meet & greet Sarah Cotterall (founder and director of Silk & Steel Jewellery), Matt Cotterall (GM facilities management), Ella Cotterall, 16, Josh Cotterall, 13, and Bailey the West Highland terrier.
While most of us look forward to escaping everyday life with long weekends in the holiday hotspots of Hawke’s Bay or Queenstown, Sarah and Matt Cotterall took it one step further. Instead of waiting for occasional weekends of luxury, they made their home a retreat that doesn’t need escaping from – a particularly savvy move given our somewhat closed borders and lockdown stints.
When the Cotteralls first bought their home in Auckland’s Coatesville, more than five years ago, they saw it as a blank canvas they could put their personal stamp on. The house was only three years old and had plenty of scope for them to add finishing touches and bring it into line with their style of living.
They were drawn to the look of the house, all black and chic, taking its design cues from Hawke’s Bay’s popular high-end venue, Black Barn. With four bedrooms, two large living spaces and a 10,000sqm section in an established country-like suburb, they knew that – with a little work – it would be the perfect family home for them and their two children, Ella and Josh.
THE ‘GEM’ ROOM
(opposite) This is the room where Sarah spends a lot of time designing her Silk & Steel jewellery line. The blue rug is from the US and the couch from Harrods. The Hyeres pendant light by Eichholtz is made of transparent Murano glass. DINING ROOM The reclaimed oak table, chairs and rug are all from Restoration Hardware. The artwork above the fireplace is Schism, by New Zealand-born artist M R Cross.
FAMILY ROOM (left and top right) The artwork is The Peach Woman by David Bromley and the white Kelly Wearstler table lamp is a recent purchase. ENTRY (above left) The front door is a recycled church door. KITCHEN (right) White cabinetry and subway tiles look fantastic with the leathered granite kitchen benchtop.
Making it home
Since moving in, Sarah and Matt have extensively upgraded the home’s interior with a number of changes that have included renovating the kitchen to give it a modern rustic look, upgrading the laundry and adding a walk-in wardrobe in the main bedroom.
In keeping with their Hamptons beach-living vibe, they also added panelling to the main living and hall walls and installed shutters in the bedrooms and living areas. The powder room was tiled in a stone-look finish to reflect the rustic aesthetic of the exterior.
But much of what has made this house a home hasn’t been the changes they’ve made, but what they’ve filled it with.
“Both Matt and I love art and have filled the house with beautiful works from well-known New Zealand artists. We are lucky to share a similar style,” says Sarah.
“Some of our favourite pieces are by New Zealander Piera McArthur – she was born in 1929 and is still painting today. We love her jovial and vibrant style. We also have a large David Bromley in our family room and an early Ian Scott from the 1970s.”
Furniture has been carefully chosen for the feeling it evokes, not to fit a particular ‘trend’. Like the old French antique post office filing cabinet that dates back to the late 1800s. Or the French antique dresser from the late 1800s that sits at the entrance – “I love the beautiful hand-carved detail against some of our more modern pieces,” says Sarah, founder and owner of popular jewellery brand Silk & Steel.
“As a jewellery designer, I’m always drawn to design, colour and texture and how pieces work in harmony to define a space and create a distinctive mood. I love minimal offset with a touch of drama; beautiful timeless pieces and objects that tell a story.”
Sarah’s most recent – and favourite – purchase is a beautiful Kelly Wearstler table lamp that takes pride of place in the family room. “I love white on white and the bold texture of the lamp is a standout feature that grounds the space. It was a splurge but it’s artwork.”
SARAH COTTERALL
BEDROOM (top) The surfboard above the bed is by Bob McTavis, one of Australia’s most famous surfboard shapers, and is highly collectable. BATHROOM The artwork is by a talented friend of the Cotteralls. MAIN BEDROOM (opposite) The bed is from Restoration Hardware, the rug is from Freedom and the zebra-print stools by Eichholtz.
Creative spaces
While the main living areas are neutral in tone – “relaxed luxury vibe with a chic Hamptons style,” Sarah quips – colour has been used in other rooms to add warmth and interest. Like the rich sapphire-blue rug in the room where Sarah spends a lot of time designing her jewellery line.
“This room is my creative work space/entertaining lounge and where I spend hours designing and entertaining. I also love to use this room for Silk & Steel photo shoots. With its gem-like colours and trinkets on display, it really is like a jewellery box.”
The bookshelf was from a local designer and is a main feature of the room, its shelves showcasing different pieces the couple have collected on their travels – from African carvings to Sumatran coral found by Matt on one of his intrepid surf trips. It also houses some of Sarah’s vast collection of fashion and jewellery books she uses for inspiration, as well as her Silk & Steel couture and vintage pieces, which are displayed like pieces of art.
Main retreat
The Cotteralls’ main bedroom has a touch of whimsy with its safari theme. The safari-style bed suite is from Restoration Hardware and they added zebra-print stools for an extra bit of safari drama. A feature wall of flamingos using Arte wallcovering, sourced from Trendzeater, complete the safari vibe. The result is something that wouldn’t be out of place in a high-end boutique hotel.
Style tip Bedrooms need more than one source of light, in this gorgeous bedroom, a luxe chandelier and downlights above the bed help to set the lighting scene.
The outdoor living
But perhaps the biggest difference they’ve made to their home has been landscaping the property, turning it into an entertainer’s dream. They added a large pool, spa area and two large all-weather outdoor loggia areas, each with an open fireplace.
“We love to entertain and always have people popping in. We spend a lot of time by the pool with friends and family in summer and in winter with the fires on… and then we move to the other side where we eat dinner outdoors in our large dining space that comfortably seats up to 10 people. We get so much use out of each outdoor area,” Sarah says.
The gardens are incredible, particularly given the fact that they are a result of some impressive DIY.
“Matt did all the landscaping himself. He has some serious green fingers and invested many hours in planting and sculpting the garden,” Sarah says.
He created hedging using Ficus tuffi, Eugenia and Griselinia to add structure to the gardens. Mondo softens the look of concrete pavers, magnolias give height and winter blooms, liquid amber trees go a deep red hue in autumn, and star jasmine sprawls along the garden beds, adding scent and delicate white flowers in spring. Careful planting choices mean the outlook is beautiful all year round.
There’s also an established orchard area with fig trees, apples, apricots, pears, plums, peaches, feijoa, mandarins and lemons. They’re boxed with authentic old railway sleepers the couple sourced from Queenstown. The entry gate and front wall schist was sourced from Otago, which has been bagged to give it that rustic central Otago aesthetic.
OUTDOORS In the covered poolside area, the rug, lanterns and concrete table are all from Design Warehouse with green-fingered Matt doing the garden landscaping himself. “We spend a lot of time by the pool with friends and family in summer,” says Sarah.
Future plans
The Cotteralls’ hard work and vision has turned their home into the perfect respite from their busy jobs and they love it.
“The house is very much about relaxed and effortless luxury. It’s very easy to live in and enjoy. We love the open-plan living areas, high stud and the beautiful natural light we get year-round. It’s always warm in winter, and in summer we love to open up all the doors to give us an amazing indoor-outdoor flow to the garden and outdoor living areas. It’s a great house to open up to friends and family for entertaining. We’ve got plans to renovate the main ensuite and possibly add a tennis court, but we’ll be here for many years yet,” Sarah says.
With a home like this, why would they need to go anywhere else?
SARAH COTTERALL
BACK TO BLACK
A young couple left life on deck in the Med and got on board with building their future in Kerikeri
Photography Simon Wilson
MEET & GREET Amanda Cooper, (photographer), Ben Gavin-Young (landscaper), and Isabella, two.
Ben Gavin-Young and Amanda Cooper say their Scandinavianinspired house in Kerikeri is “the house that Pinterest and YouTube built”.
When the couple decided to build their first home, there was a logistical problem.
They needed images to show their New
Zealand-based architect, but were in the
Mediterranean working on super yachts during the planning stage. Amanda was pregnant and they knew they wanted to come home and settle on Ben’s family land.
“We decided to build rather than buy so that we’d have a place of our own and it had to be something that suited our needs.”
1 THE DESIGN
The couple had their heart set on a minimalist modern aesthetic for their four-bedroom, two-storey home. With the help of architect Dasha Tapa from DLM Architects and by using Stria Cladding by James Hardie they were able to achieve a framed open-plan home with a double-vaulted macrocarpa ceiling.
As well as being able to practise yoga on the mezzanine loft space, one of the things Amanda loves most about the house is the high vaulted ceilings and two-storey high windows.
“We wanted to create a gallery feel with as much wall space as possible to display art on,” says Ben.
They also knew they wanted great indoor/outdoor flow and achieved this with large bi-fold doors and generous glazing, as well as an open fireplace for everyone to gather around.
“We spent three weeks alone getting the fireplace to look right before the plans were submitted,” says Ben.
FROM THE OUTSIDE
The crisp and clean white plaster chimney stands out in sharp relief against the dark Stria Cladding by James Hardie.
TAKE IT INDOORS In contrast to the dark exterior cladding, the home’s interior is light and bright softened by a soaring double-vaulted macrocarpa ceiling.
2 THE MATERIALS
Ben and Amanda opted to go with Stria Cladding by James Hardie for its cost effectiveness, modern monolithic appearance and, being a cement-based product, it is more stable when painted black compared to other materials. Timber indents in the recesses were used to bring warmth to the palette.
In contrast to the black exterior the feature white chimney, which can be achieved using EasyLap Panel by James Hardie, was based off a Scandinavian home the couple pinned on Pinterest.
3 THE INTERIOR
The light, bright interior is a lovely contrast to the dramatic black exterior. Those large windows that flood the interior with natural light also connect the inside to the green rollings Northland hills outside. The bay window is a favourite place to sit and contemplate the environment. “The long bench seat bay is a feature we couldn’t leave out – we now sit there nearly every evening,” says Amanda.
For added warmth they used natural polished concrete on the floor, which also grounded the house to the site. The concrete extends to the solid kitchen island made by Ben and has become a social point for family and visitors to gather.
4 THE OUTDOORS
Eventually, they hope to build a pergola for the back deck as well as a pool in the next few years. Right now, a shed is in the works.
But it is the land that holds so much potential for them and they are thoroughly enjoying working on their garden and learning to grow their own food. In fact, the main reason Ben is working in landscaping now is to gain knowledge to transform their outdoor area.
I can’t wait to make some art out there,” says Ben.
AMANDA COOPER
KEY
1 Chimney 2 Mezzanine lounge 3 O ice 4 Walk-in wardrobe 5 Ensuite 6 Main bedroom 7 Balcony 8 Window seat 9 Fireplace 10 Lounge 11 Kitchen
2
12 Dining 13 Wardrobe 14 Bedroom 15 Laundry 16 Bathroom 17 Entry
7
FINISHES
Upper level
8
10
Lower level
17 3 4
5 6
11
13
14 12
16
15 13 14
STRIA™ CLADDING Made to withstand our unpredictable climate, this ultra-sleek premium cladding is made form premium fibre cement, so it’s low maintenance and can be painted any colour - Ben opted for Resene Sonyx 101 CoolColour Waterborne Semi-Gloss in All Black.
EASYLAP™ PANEL EasyLap can be used in a range of residential applications, the panel can be finished with normal paint application or site applied acrylic texture-coated finishes.
RESENE ALL BLACK
HONESTY BOX
What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way? Do a lot of homework. Prior preparation was the key. Get lots of quotes. Stay on top of the budget. Anything you’d never do again? Burnish concrete – maybe. What are a couple of tips you’d give to anyone planning to build? Pay the extra for a good architect. Get quotes for everything, then make some serious spreadsheets from these quotes. Did you have any setbacks? Not really. Just some crazy hours painting late into the night. Any splurges? Our freestanding bath and the fireplace was the most expensive item in the house. What did you save on? Ben had too many beers one night and jumped on Trade Me and spent $10k on Vitex decking, macrocarpa ceilings and Akwa floors for upstairs, sight unseen. Fortunately, it was the right amount and a decent quality, costing the same as a store had quoted for just the ceilings. Anything you’d change about your home if you could? More thought into future proofing. Looking into add-ons and where services are buried.
BUDGET
What was the total cost of the build? Less than $400K fully furnished, not a penny more (excluding my labour). This was our budget, we couldn’t get a mortgage. Instead of getting a job, I was working on the house. How did you keep track of costs during the build? I had quotes for everything prior to starting. I had also just finished project managing a €1.5 million refit of a yacht in Holland, so my Excel was up to par.
CONTACTS
Bay of Islands Plumbing and Drainage Carters Waipapa carters.co.nz Dasha Tapa, DLM Architects dlmarchitects.co.nz DTM Construction James Hardie jameshardie.co.nz Keriland Earthworks Kerilandearthworks.co.nz Kerikeri Plumbing Services Northwire Electrical northwire.co.nz Prime Plumbing primeplumbinggas.co.nz Roof Bay of Islands roofbayofislands.co.nz
To boldly go Blow your guests’ minds when they visit your powder room with imaginative decoration and clever styling. For more on the smallest room in your house, turn to page 88 – and don’t forget to enter yours in our new competition.
RENOVATION
74
Kitchen update Key trends for the heart of the home.
78
Bit of teamwork Renovating with two young ‘helpers’.
