FIRE, FURS & A SAUNA
OUR COSY COVER HOUSE
Every friday night at 7pm, Brigitte and Brian Richards lock up their inner city apartment, load their cat Bellina Vuitton into the car and drive an hour out of the city to their home on the edge of Lake Rototoa, north-west of Auckland, where the resident moreporks welcome them with a hoot.
All three relish the change from inner city living to total rural freedom. “It’s like the yin and the yang. You leave the city behind, arrive, light the fire and it’s just sheer bliss,” says Brigitte.
They bought the property in 1991; it was just bare farmland topped with a little Lockwood. Over 26 years, the couple bought up neighbouring land and now have 300 hectares, most of it dedicated to deer farming. They’ve eradicated gorse and planted 68,000 native trees with 78km of fencing to protect their plantings. “Deer can wreak havoc on trees,” says Brian.
Both Brigitte and Brian are keen swimmers, so when they were first hunting for a country home, they wanted a place that was near a lake, no more than an hour’s drive from the CBD. They found what they were after. The lake, however, was in less than pristine condition, polluted after years of stock being farmed on the water’s edge. Long-distance swimmer Brian made it his mission to improve its quality. Fencing and a ribbon of trees planted around the lake edge act like a protective filter and now Brian frequently enjoys a swim across to the other side and back, in water so clean you can drink it. >
“It really is just the most splendid place for chilling and relaxing,” says Brian of their country home. If they’re not diving into the lake (they swim for six months of the year), they might be feeding the hens and collecting eggs to make an omelette. “Or you could find us at lunchtime still reading a book,” Brian says. And a whisky on the deck while the sun goes down never goes amiss.
Their home, designed by architect Simon Twose, fits snugly into the landscape. “It’s f lat like a sheet, like another lake,” says Brigitte. “We get so much pleasure from nature and we didn’t want to disrupt it visually.” She describes the house as like a display cabinet in a museum: “You look inside and see everything as it should be.”
It’s not surprising that everything is just so. The Richards both work in design and strategy with their own business, Richards Partners. With great discipline and attention to detail they ensured the house was built for the way they liked to live. It took 17 variations before the final design was signed off.
Brigitte describes the design as simple and practical: “Everything has a purpose.” You’d be hard pressed to find any clutter in the Richards’ home. Anything messy can be tucked away in the mudroom, a space that’s indispensable, Brigitte says. >
The couple wanted the home’s interior to be harmonious and seamless. Curtains are the same length and fabric, and all soft furnishings are upholstered in leather or hide. “I didn’t want to walk into a room and notice big differences; it should be peaceful moving through the house,” says Brigitte. Most of the hides are pony, but one of the farm’s bulls, Daniel, made it inside. “He had too much food and wasn’t interested in becoming a father, so he got farewelled and now he’s the rug in the ‘belle vue’ area [beside the pony hide chairs],” she says.
Building the home took two years, then the couple spent three weeks choosing all the furniture from catalogues. Everything had to be the right tone and look, and be the same height. “The whole house is like a panini. When you sit in the morning lounge you can look over the table and out onto the lake without an interrupted view. High-backed chairs would’ve ruined the whole scenario,” says Brigitte.
If they miss a weekend at the lake house, the Richards are hanging out for their dose of rural calm by Thursday night. “It’s like charging the batteries,” says Brigitte. “The house is so lovely to be in… it’s simple, but completely practical for our needs.” See a video at stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses