One look at the West Auckland home of Widdess’ Yvonna Van Hulzen and Vincent Langford, and their artistic endeavours, and it’s easy to see that this creative couple share a great eye for design.
“I love the drive out here, leaving the city behind, winding through rural roads, finally heading
“When you turn into our driveway, it’s almost like you are entering a hidden world. It’s an incredibly tranquil, kind of secret place,” adds the seasoned designer, who will celebrate three decades of the Ponsonby-based label next year.
While deliberately maintaining the home’s rustic vibe, they have brought more natural light into the interior and opened it up to the landscape. Happily, they engaged a builder who shared both their aesthetic and laid-back approach to the renovation.
“It was a great project to work on and fairly pain-free. There was no architect involved. We didn’t have any plans drawn up. We would stand around and talk about what we wanted with our builder Ben. He always got it immediately,” says Yvonna. “Ben has great style. He also liked the fact that we wanted to reuse as much of the existing material as possible, including the windows.”
They painted the entire place white, pulled up the sisal carpet and polished the concrete floor. One half of the shed is an open, airy living space, with an oversized window facing north. The other half is a dedicated bedroom wing.
“The packing shed had already been converted into a home when we bought it in 2010. It was fine to live in for a while, but we wanted to create the kind of environment that was more like us.”
The result is an interior that feels curated, yet casual and calming at the same time. “We wanted gentle, easy-on-the-eye colours and lots of natural materials and tactile fabrics. For us, it’s about creating an experience,” says Yvonna. “We want people to come in and have a nice time, in surroundings that feel relaxed and comfortable. It’s the same experience we want people to have in our shop.”
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The biggest job was relocating the kitchen and bathroom. The bathroom was moved from a prime spot at the front of the house to where the original kitchen was – a relatively easy job, as there was existing plumbing. Like all renovations, there were challenges. Deciding where to position the kitchen in the new layout took a bit of time. “Ben came up with the idea of putting the kitchen where it is, in the back corner of the living space. We hadn’t considered that but it’s a great spot. It required a bit of time and effort putting in new plumbing, but it was worth it.”
The peace and quiet of the surrounding native bush-clad hills has a powerful effect. It infuses the house with a stillness, a true sense of sanctuary.
“As you come down the driveway, you can feel the stress of the city lifting and you start to relax,” says Yvonna. The living room flows easily from indoors to outside when the glass doors to the deck are thrown open. There is plenty of sofa space, both inside and outdoors, for a post-lunch nap. The kitchen island faces towards the living area so whoever’s cooking can be part of social occasions. The oak-veneer cabinetry introduces warmth to the space and provides a counterpoint to the cool tones of the grey polished concrete floors.
This is the third unconventional home the couple have lived in. In 1995 their blended family (Yvonna’s two daughters and Vincent’s son and daughter) first lived in a converted barn in Taupaki, then spent eight years living in a Mt Eden warehouse. When their children flew the nest, the couple decided it was time to leave the city behind for country life.
The slower pace turned out to be an attraction not only for them, but for their extended family. Presently, they have Yvonna’s eldest daughter Bella Pachter, her husband Pawel Smuga and their 20-month-old daughter Penny living there, too. “They love it out here. We weren’t expecting that but the plan is now to add a minor dwelling to the property so we can make it long-term,” says Yvonna.
The couple designed the front deck as another outdoor room that has an easy link to an adjacent field populated with wildflowers and overgrown grass.
“We try and live as green as possible,” says Vincent, an artist. “We don’t use any spray and we like to keep the property a bit wild and free. There’s lots of birds flying around the place and a huge variety of insects.”
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Advertise with NZME.They are devoted to creative reuse – the home is mostly furnished with pre-loved pieces – and lots of Vincent’s paintings. “We never go looking for something. The things tend to find us,” says Vincent, who combines his career as an artist with his role at Widdess.
Vintage stores, such as Flotsam & Jetsam and The Vitrine, have proved to be fertile ground for furnishing both the store and home over the years. Sometimes a display cabinet will start off at the Ponsonby Rd store, then end up as a cabinet filled with curiosities at their home.
“We are visual creatives and it’s important to us that our surroundings feel right,” says Yvonna. “We’ve lived in different environments over the years, but our home has always had the same look and feel. We don’t know any other way to be. It’s not even an approach to interior design; it’s just the way it is.”
Quickfire Questions with Yvonna Van Hulzen of Widdess
Style to me is... classic silhouettes, considered fabric choices and understated simplicity.
Our most enduring design at Widdess is... our Wednesday pants are very popular. You can just pull them on and they work. Customers live in them. Our Captain dress is good too, it’s flattering on a lot of body shapes and we do them in such a variety of fabrics, cotton, silks, linens – printed and plain.
The thing that keeps me inspired is… the fabrics are a constant source of inspiration. We work with our suppliers to get the best colours and weights. Most of all we are inspired by our lovely, loyal customers who come in to visit with stories of a piece of Widdess they have had for 15 years or more and are still wearing. We strive to make clothes people love to wear no matter what they do with their day.
Who inspired you to become a designer... That would definitely be my always stylish mother.
Knitwear has become a staple of Widdess – how did that come about? I started doing the hand knits quite a while ago. I have always loved knitting and find it very relaxing. Each jumper is unique and I never know what it will look like until it’s finished, mostly just working with colour and texture as I go along. They now have quite a following, with some customers collecting them.
What colours do you find yourself drawn to over and over in your work? I am always drawn to more muted natural tones like ochre and warm greens. I am partial to indigos as well. We only use natural fibres and choose colours that are on a non-bleached base, which gives the warm tones we are known for. We do love a pop of pink or a beautiful floral print as well.
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