An Auckland couple merge their own style with a heritage building.
Buying a house in Auckland was the last thing on the minds of Jenny Cook and husband Ronnie Crosbie two years ago.
In fact, the couple, originally from Scotland, had packed up their belongings and sent them back home just before Crosbie received a job offer in Auckland that he could not refuse.
"Our belongings took an eight-month OE," says Crosbie. "And we started looking for a place to rent for a couple of years." But with Cook pregnant with their first child (Charlie, now aged 2), a family home suddenly became a priority.
The couple viewed the Old Civic House out of curiosity, not really intent on buying it.
Built in 1862, the house originally stood on the Queen St site now occupied by the Civic Theatre. The building had been used as a schoolhouse, incense factory and a brothel before developers moved it to its current location in Ponsonby.
"This house is about as far as you can get from a blank canvas," says Cook. "Moving into a historic building, we felt more like custodians than owners, with an obligation to preserve it for the next generation."
But the couple were determined to stamp their personalities on the home while staying true to its heritage style. "We weren't going to try to turn it into something it's not," says Cook, who already liked so much about the house.
"I loved the fact that the kitchen is a focal point, with doors to the lounge, the hallway, the back porch and stairs to the upstairs loft area, which we use as a bedroom. And I was certainly swayed by the olive and white tiles and standalone bath in the bathroom."
They painted the green walls in the living room and the kitchen an off-white colour because Cook knew her striking kitchen appliances would not have fitted in with the kitchen's original colour, a margarine yellow.
Throughout the home the couple has carefully managed the juxtaposition of contemporary and traditional. How these two styles play off each other is shown to good effect in the kitchen, where the country feel of the wooden floors, units and doors contrasts with an industrial-looking zinc-topped table, pressed metal chairs and modern artwork.
And in some ways, what the couple haven't done to this home plays just as big a part as what they have done. While friends suggested they whitewash the wood panelling, or paint over the green and white exterior, they were determined not to interfere with the home's traditional style.
Style tips
Web walking: "Online shopping played a huge part in the decoration of this house," says Cook, who sourced the wall decals in Charlie's room from a Waiheke-based company.
Mix and match: Not everything in your home has to fit with a certain theme. Contrast old with new, rustic with industrial, masculine with feminine.
Form and function: Buy functional items that are beautiful as well so you can leave them on display. "Or else you spend your life trying to hide things in cupboards," says Cook. She and Crosbie have a spearmint mixer, vintage scales and an Italian coffee machine that each look good out on the bench.
Leanne Moore is the editor of Your Home & Garden. See the latest issue, on sale now, for achievable home ideas.
