A long-admired mid-century classic is perfectly re-imagined.

A mid century classic is somehow both vibrant and soothing, a peaceful retreat near the buzz and of the city

On her walks around Auckland’s Orakei Basin, Tania Clifton-Smith often used to pause to admire the elegant lines of a house perched on the ridge. Built in 1961, it was designed and lived in by renowned modernist architect Vladimir Cacala, and when it came on the market Tania seized the chance to take a closer look. “I’d always thought it would be interesting,” she says. “As soon as I walked inside I loved it. For me it’s about space and the feel of a place. Immediately I felt at home and knew we had to have it.”

Although the house had great bones, it had been altered over the years. Tania and her husband Terry decided to take on the challenge of a restoration project, bringing it back to its original lines and fixing what had become rundown.

Modernism is all about flowing spaces, clean lines and simplicity. It wasn’t a design era the couple knew a great deal about at the outset but they have relished the chance to learn.

“It’s become a real interest for both of us,” says Tania.

“Because of this house we’ve come to love mid-century architecture, the furniture and the art.”

Their aim was to stay faithful to Cacala’s original vision while also creating a relaxing home for themselves and their children Oliver, 18, and Jessica, 16.

Auckland architect Paul Clarke from Studio2 Architects was enlisted to work on the project.

“Paul was phenomenal,” says Tania. “He really wanted to honour the original architect and the era – I didn’t have much say.”

The restoration grew into a far bigger project than Tania and Terry had envisaged, with even the walls needing to be stripped back to their frames and rebuilt. The house has been opened up a little more for the view, but today the exterior looks much as it would have originally.

Inside is where it has been transformed. Here the couple have fused modernist tradition with their own personal style and, most significantly for Tania, created a space that is peaceful and calming. “It’s so important to me that a home should invite you in and you should immediately feel relaxed, comfortable and nurtured there,” she says.

Tania is a physiotherapist and co-founder of the BradCliff Breathing Method. In her work she deals with many clients who are over-busy and stressed so her home needs to provide some balance. With its views sweeping down over the Orakei Basin towards the city, railway and docks, this house feels connected to the outside world yet still apart enough from it to be tranquil.

“I love that view at night, it’s stunning,” says Tania. “And then in the daytime it’s a hive of activity and I can sit here and feel like a voyeur looking out at what is happening in the crazy world.”

On the eastern side of the house there is a more rural vista over grassy paddocks owned by local iwi Ngāti Whātua, and this is the outlook Tania finds most soothing.

“I grew up on a farm in Manawatu that had views all the way to Mt Ruapehu so the sense of space was phenomenal,” she says. “To me that was total freedom. Until I found this house I couldn’t relax in Auckland. This is the only place I’ve lived where I’ve felt calm.”

Tania is a fan of luxuriant sheepskins, cushions you can sink into, and spaces that are easy and comfortable. The main living area is divided by the kitchen and at one end is an intimate family zone with a den for watching TV and a breakfast area that seats just the four of them. “In the morning this is where the sun pours in and we can open up the doors,” says Tania.

‘FOR ME IT’S ABOUT THE FEEL OF A PLACE. IMMEDIATELY I FELT AT HOME AND KNEW WE HAD TO HAVE IT’

There are pops of red, slate blue and mustard in a concrete-topped cabinet designed by their architect, and in the artworks and retro wallpapers.

“Those colours were often used in mid-century homes and were in the laundry that was originally here,” says Tania.

Not everything in the house may fit the mid-century ethos but the couple aren’t interested in rigidly following the style. “You can’t get rid of everything that has been passed down. You have to honour the old with the new and merge them.”

Modernism goes hand in hand with minimalism but that doesn’t sit naturally with Tania. “If I were honouring true modernism there would be very little storage. They believed in having less, less, less. But in a family home everything needs to have its place so I’ve built in linen and storage cupboards,” she says

Her mother’s Irish Catholic background is reflected in keepsakes such as her grandmother’s rosary beads, which are draped over a cross in the couple’s bathroom, and the religious iconography on a Hokianga Mary oar artwork by Leanne Culy. “It’s nice to have hints of who you are and where you come from.”

THESE PAGES An elegant Palm Springs aesthetic was the inspiration for the Smith family’s Auckland garden, with plantings of sculptural Monstera deliciosa and classic palms adding varying textures.

THIS PAGE The family sits in front of an original feature of the house, a natural rock wall made with stones that were quarried locally.

THIS PAGE In the main living area, the Zanotta Butterfly coffee tables, Bruce sofa and rug all came from Studio Italia.

THIS PAGE Eight men had to carry in the thick concrete kitchen bench; Tania chose classic mid-century colours for the cupboard doors; the handmade pottery comes from the Kona Arts Centre in Hawaii: “We have relatives there and each time we visit I collect another piece,” says Tania.

THIS PAGE The 1969 painting In The Void (Molecular Aspect) by Pat Hanly that hangs in the main living area is a favourite: “The colours are amazing and everyone sees something different in it,” says Tania; the blue swivel chairs are from Studio Italia.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from left) Oliver has inherited a sharp eye and an interest in art from his parents and has already started collecting. The master bedroom with bedlinen from Linen Boutique and wallpaper by Cole & Son. The floating cedar stairwell was designed by Paul Clarke of Studio2 Architects; the bottom floor has the original concrete: “It’s a bit rough because it was intended to be covered but I like honouring the original materials,” says Tania. The view from the master bedroom. Teenagers Oliver and Jessica beside the frangipani tree; the pool area flows from the lower floor of the house, with their bedrooms and living area, so this is where they most often hang out with friends in the warmer months.