Let there be light

Interior view of gallery owner Emma Haughton's architecturally designed home in Matakana. Photo / Babiche Martens.

An appreciation of the visual, a love of storytelling and a respect for nature is at the heart of Emma Haughton's approach to life. Indeed, when it came to designing her home near Matakana, it was these values she engaged. High on the hill above the ever-changing Whangateau Harbour, the house has an elegance and relaxed sophistication which reflects its owner. Emma, who spent 15 years working as a film editor for Peter Jackson - from his early days on Braindead right through to The Lord of the Rings - knew from the outset she wanted to create a home that sat easily within the Kiwi vernacular with the use of materials such as the familiar board and batten, corrugated iron and lots of glass.

From the rolling rural pastures and bush-covered hills to the west through to the ever-changing Whangateau harbour below to the east with Pt Wells and Ti Pt on the horizon, the house makes the most of its privileged position. "I love sitting up here and watching the weather roll in," says Emma whose appreciation of space and nature comes from growing up on a farm on the Kaipara Harbour.

Built around a central grassy courtyard which provides a play area for 7-year-old Finn, the house's airy structure allows a true awareness of the surrounding landscape and allows people to move about easily within it whilst still feeling connected.

On the western side of the yard the garage, with a self-contained loft for guests, towers high to help block the westerly winds that blow in winter and provide shade from the intense afternoon sun in summer.

In the main part of the house, floor-to-ceiling windows and doors and an impressively high stud add to the sense of lightness and space. Emma's dream kitchen - "I love to entertain" - and a few steps work to divide the formal living and TV area from the relaxed open-plan dining and living space. It is here we sit in front of the fire and enjoy a glass of wine.

Halfway down a long glass hallway the space widens to provide a zone where Finn can spread out with his Lego and favourite toys, while bedrooms and Emma's office open up to reveal more extensive rural views and soak up the afternoon sunlight.

In terms of the furnishings throughout, it would be easy to think each piece had been handpicked for it's environment but, in fact, this apparent styling evolved mainly by chance - and "the fact that we went over budget on the house itself," laughs Emma.

The home is an elegant and eclectic mix of modern pieces - including those created by her brother, furniture designer Sam Haughton - and inherited pieces including the dining table which she used to sit at as a child when it was the old kitchen table in the homestead of the farm she grew up on. "It used to be painted white with a brown formica top; it's lovely to have it here knowing its history and stories it could tell."

Emma's love of art is evident with paintings throughout the house by artists such as Louise Fong, Pat Hanley and a Ralph Hotere lithograph - which she brought as a student at university. In pride of place in the sitting room is a Judy Millar painting which belongs to a local art group Emma belongs to.

"It's made up of 15 local women and it's lots of fun.

"We meet a couple of times a year and we all have jobs within the group. Each year there's a buying committee so you have to do your research and buy something. The idea is that we form the group for 10 years, and then we sell the collection and have a fabulous dinner on the profits or lose all our money - I don't know! It's not always about buying something you particularly like. It's about an informed, intelligent buy. We have lots of laughs deciding. It's just been a really good learning process and you get to go to lots more galleries and auctions that you probably would normally and you have a bigger budget. Our other good buys, I think, are a couple of Richard Lewar pieces."

But it is Emma's love of ceramics which stands out most clearly in her home - everywhere there are artful displays of favourite pieces - and it this which led to her opening her own gallery, "Piece", down the road in nearby Matakana village.

"I guess I was looking for a change in my life. Finn was going to school and working in the film industry wasn't really conducive to raising children. I was talking to Richard Didsbury, who is the visionary behind the whole development of Matakana, and I

Emma's love of ceramics and glassware stands out with different pieces grouped together around her home.

thought 'why not open a gallery dedicated to contemporary objects?' I have a Fine Arts degree, I've always loved ceramics and more recently, since I opened the gallery, glass. I have a slight obsession with jugs and vases. I remember whenever I came back from overseas my luggage would always way a tonne as I brought home hand-painted ceramics from Italy. I've always really loved it, so it's been such a pleasure to immerse myself in it even more."

Emma drew up a wish-list of artists she'd like to represent - the likes of ceramicists Ross Mitchell-Anyon, Richard Parker, Katherine Smyth and David Murray, glass artists Emma Camden and Stephen Bradbourne, jewellers Anna Wallis, Joanna Campbell, Jasmine Watson ...

"Amazingly, they all agreed. I now represent many established and up-and-coming artists and locals such as potter Morgan Haines, whose plates are based on a mould of a 1940s wallpaper and beakers with religious icons such as crosses and rosaries. Another local is Gary Horton, who does raku ceramics including words like 'I Am', 'Ka Pai' and 'Box of Birds'.

"The loveliest thing for me, and something I never really considered when I started the gallery, is meeting all these artists. They're all such humble, clever, intelligent people, usually with a sense of humour - it's a lovely by-product of the whole thing.

"Every couple of months we have an exhibition - group shows like the annual Candlestick show which is held in the middle of winter, or solo shows like the upcoming Dominic Burrell show. I have a Christmas group show this year which will be fun, it has a colour theme. Regular shows work to invigorate the gallery and everyone involved with it, we change the space, the artists usually come to the opening. I have quite a few international customers who discover the gallery when passing through Matakana. In fact, I sent a piece of glass to Chicago recently.

"Because everything I have is New Zealand-made, it's made me even more passionate about buying New Zealand-made - I love that you can eat dinner off a handmade plate as opposed to buying mass-produced items made in China. It's better for the environment - more green - and you're supporting local artists.

"I feel there has been a bit of a swing back to people wanting that, wanting that New Zealand-made thing. Of course, sometimes there is a bit of a struggle with the price, but then when you explain to people how things are made and the love and passion that has gone into it, that it is a one-off, it's unique - it makes people feel good about their purchase."

•Piece Gallery is open seven days a week and situated by the Matakana Farmers Markets which are open on Saturdays & Sundays. Ph: (09) 422 9125