Hygge in the Hills

Hygge in the Hills

Words Tina Stephen + Photography Jessica Whiting

ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS: FEATURE HOME

Serendipity is the development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way, and it was a key player in Katy and Leanne’s escape from city life. In what felt like a holding pattern, the couple had moved from London and Melbourne to Auckland, and the die-hard urbanites began to crave a quieter life.

After pin-pointing Mangawhai as a potential base, everything fell quickly into place, viewing their future home for the first time they quickly decided to sell up their current city pad and move north.

The home itself is integrated within the surrounding landscape, with endless views, and adjacent native bush, on a peaceful country road, within a short drive to the village and beach.

“We are on a ridge, yet it is peaceful, serene, private. Visually connected, but peacefully private. Having lived on super busy roads in the city, the lack of traffic is a huge relief to the nervous system. The quiet is palpable!”

The high specification design meant that little needed doing when the home was initially purchased, and the couple have had the gift of time to get to know the home, and subsequently make plans for the future.

“We bought the house specifically with working from home in mind. As a yoga teacher, I initially hoped to build a studio and run classes from it here. However, as I am also an artist and potter, that has evolved into wanting to build a full-time art studio. I was an interior architect in London, so designing my own studio is part of the plan. Curiously, all this is what’s been on my life vision board time and time again over years, now it has all manifested, well beyond my dreams!

With a small yet functional studio existing above the garage, the couple have now increased this with a thoughtful renovation for Airbnb guests, part of the original plan for supporting their move north. With Bare timber details upstairs, open trusses, and concrete floors downstairs, the space is far more practical than the main house, so Katy

The home itself is integrated within the surrounding landscape, with endless views, and adjacent native bush and on a peaceful country road

has set about bringing warmth and softness with a focus on natural textures such as wool, stonewashed linen and silk, in order to bring a sense of hygge to the smaller space, a space for chilling in, a place for deep rest and reset for visitors from the city or abroad.

The main house has been an integration of styles, past and present. “The guys who designed and built it are extraordinary and obsessive, and they created something extraordinary and unique. When we met the designer and heard the story of how the house and garden evolved together in the landscape, it seemedmore than we could have imagined living in. Even the colour scheme was perfect!”

Although architecturally designed to high specification, the home is not without its quirks, and plans abound to redesign some of the unusual spaces and make the home their own, including the kitchen which currently houses 3 wall ovens.

“Some of the interior design here is way more maximal than my taste,” says Katy “I come from a very classically subdued and minimal aesthetic, but it is fun to shift and expand your own preferences and habits, and I do now love living with this much colour, especially yellow and deep mustards.”

After two years in the home, and the subsequent quieting of their lifestyle, Katy and Leanne cite the materiality of the home as a favourite feature, how it sits in the landscape, with views that extend to the horizon.

The addition of a terraced orchard and adjacent planting has transformed the property from a bare paddock to a verdant garden, with lessons along the way in caring for the land and the ecosystem. The couple has created a sanctuary, an antidote to the pressures of modern life, without sacrificing beautiful, thoughtful design.

“It’s very healing, to get one’s hands into the soil, and help stuff grow, to put back into the earth. I love the continuous connection with nature. It reminds me I am nature, which is very much a part of my teaching and my art practices.”

Gather's top questions

What is your favourite room in the house and why? The living room. Surrounded on three sides by green views of nature, in all her expressions. I particularly love doing downward dog and looking all the way out to the landscape beyond through the floor to ceiling sliding glass doors. I can open the doors in the morning and listen to the water tinkling in the pond. The way the light moves through the space all day. Before we bought the house, I had to ask if we could come and see it at night because of all the interesting light fittings and open trusses. I really like the subtle moments of light and dark.

What plans do you have for the home? Adding a new wood burner. My big plan is to design a studio, adjacent to the garage, opening onto the orchard and native bush, with a deep deck for yoga practice and my hammock, and a deep daybed in the window to look out from in winter. But then again, we may just use what we have, and adapt how we live.

What do you love about your community, what is special about the area where you live? This community is so wonderful. I love that I can walk along the beach and everyone says hi, or stops to have a real conversation, that people make time for each other, even in the busyness of their own lives. The community has really embraced my yoga classes, I am very fortunate to have met some wonderful folk through that intimate connection. There are so many artists, eco-warriors, designers, photographers, conscious bosses, vegans, body workers, therapists, gardeners and chefs here, amidst all the other farmers, lifestylers, boaties and builders. I came here with an open mind and heart and have been received with generosity and love.

How does your business integrate with your lifestyle? How do you (attempt or not) to achieve work-life balance? My businesses support my life. Living well and living fully is paramount to me. It has taken two years to start to feel in a rhythm here, with the seasons, with the rural life, and just letting the stress of urban expectations slowly drop away. I’m still working towards a comfortable balance of life and work, and a little more time to rest and do nothing, with my partner here too would be good, but we are going with the flow and have many tools to draw from to achieve that. Daily walks with my dog in nature keep me grounded. •

Style Stealer

Compiled by Jessica Whiting

One of the things I immediately loved about Katy & Leanne’s home was how eclectic it felt, but so complimentary. I absolutely loved the bold carpet and wallpaper choices, the bathrooms were extremely elegant in contrast to the organised and minimalist kitchen space. Packed with personality, there is a lot of fun with pattern in this home!

1. Le Creuset Peruh Kettle $219.95 from Milly’s | 2. Segment mirror from Citta $179 | 3. Riccarton carpet in Red Piazza from Feltex | 4. Nordic Sea bowl with feet, large $15 from Capricho | 5. Crusoe Round Teak Root side table $339.99 from Alex & Corban.