Home of the Month: French design ideals elevate this extraordinary Wellington home.

Peppered with French influences, this reimagined Wellington villa is a meeting of old and new

It was meant to be a quick trip to the dairy for a bottle of milk, but Faye Lowe ended up buying a house as well. The fashion designer, her husband Cameron Mehlhopt and their son Cassius (now seven) were living in the Wellington suburb of Newtown when Faye popped down to the shop. “I saw a For Sale on this house and was overjoyed. I’d seen the house on trips to Wellington Zoo as a child and thought it was amazing. I knew we had to have it.”

Convincing Cam, the founder and CEO of global talent website StarNow, was another matter. “We’d just finished renovating our house and Cam wasn’t keen to start again.” But when he saw the generous back garden and considered his wife’s passion for creating stylish surroundings, he came on board.

What followed was 18 months of intensive renovation work while the 196sqm villa was essentially rebuilt. Internal walls were removed and spaces reconfigured, an extension was added to the back of the house and the glassed-in front verandah opened up.

Faye is a fan of French interiors so was keen to introduce features she’d seen in Paris, such as wrought iron fences and verandah balustrades. Panelled walls have also been added to the wide hall and some living spaces. Faye worked with interior

designer Charlotte Minty to incorporate the panels, as well as details such as transoms above the interior doors, plaster scotia and an archway that’s now illuminated by striking black lights from Metalarte.

Says Charlotte: “The vision for the project was guided by several things. This included the villa itself, which we brought back to life while creating new spaces for modern living. Another factor was Faye and her passion, which drove the project forward.

“From a design standpoint, it allowed me to draw on a wide range of design capabilities and I was involved from the ground up. Projects like this don’t come along every day.”

The biggest change was to the rear of the house where the kitchen and scullery were demolished to make way for an 88sqm addition that features swooping cathedral ceilings and full-length windows. The 3m-long marble-topped bench was a necessity for a family that entertains frequently; they once hosted an event for 80 people.

“Cam is the family cook and he’s six foot two so we made the island a bit higher than usual,” explains Faye. Behind the kitchen is an expansive butler’s pantry where Faye had the cabinets custom-made to house the glassware and crystal she’s collected over the years.

Three striking Tom Dixon lights define the dining area, while beyond that is the informal living space where Faye re-covered imported French chairs and had comfortable blue velvet sofas custom made.

The 3.3m-tall shutters were inspired by Japanese rice paper shades and were hand-crafted by the couple’s builder Andy Press.

Faye is skilled at mixing old and new, such as the vintage haberdashery cabinet in the home office. It was bought from artist friend Fleur Wickes and now sits alongside some of Fleur’s modern art.

There’s a vintage chandelier and sideboard that the couple bought from French Revolution, a now closed Wellington antiques store. Faye and Cameron also found many treasures on a buying trip to France. “We filled a whole container with antique pieces,” says Faye.

Her eye for detail extended to sourcing vintagestyle chrome light switches from Auckland and finding scotia and ceiling roses to enhance the character of the house.

‘I love to imagine the rooms our French chandelier has previously graced’

THIS PAGE Faye Lowe sits on a custom-made sofa by Montreux Furniture in her and husband Cameron Mehlhopt’s Wellington home; the artwork is by Felicity Priest, the cushion is covered in Delft Flower Noir by Designers Guild and the rug is by Miss Amara. OPPOSITE Poppet the cat on the move in the dining room; the artwork is by Kaye Coombs who Faye discovered during the Whanganui Artists Open Studio weekends, and the shutters were custom-built by Andy Press of Press Build.

THESE PAGES The mirror and the chandelier reflected in it are antiques that were sourced by the now defunct French Revolution, while the fireplace was custom-made for the room, the collection of white china, brass and crystal is a mix of vintage finds and gifts from Faye’s mother-in-law, and the lounge suite was an op shop find: “I love the romantic French library feel to this room,” Faye says.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) Faye, who used to own a luxury sleepwear label, says she loves the romance of beautiful French apartments with parquet floors and wanted to recreate that with this elegant herringbone pattern and dark stain; the lights over the dining table are Fade Pendant Gold by Tom Dixon while the antique marble-topped sideboard was sourced by French Revolution and the bust was a gift from her mother-in-law’s collection. The couple’s son Cassius has Fox as his middle name and the family now seem to be collecting foxes. The large white chairs came from the Paris antiques markets and after getting them recovered Faye discovered French Revolution had a matching footstool.

LEFT The crystal pendant over kitchen benchtop is Romeo Louis II by Philippe Starck for Flos while above the shelving are Crystal Bulb wall lights by Lee Broom; the bar stools are by Norman Foster for Emeco from Thonet. RIGHT The three striking pendant lights in the hallway are Josephine by Jaime Hayon for Metalarte and the entrance light in the foreground is Skygarden by Marcel Wanders for Flos: “I have always loved this pendant and it’s the perfect detail at the beginning our hallway,” Faye says; all the radiators are new but are a vintage style.

THIS PAGE The antique doors came from the Paris antiques markets along with a mirror which was used to replace the doors’ glass panels back in New Zealand; the vanity was made from a vintage sideboard found at French Revolution. OPPOSITE (clockwise from top left) The ensuite features Melange wall sconces by Kelly Wearstler and an Aballs pendant by Jaime Hayon for Parachilna. The daybed in the guest bedroom came from the Paris antique markets and the ceiling pendant is by Katie Brown of Brown & Co in Whanganui. Some of the drawers of the haberdashery unit are filled with Faye’s Vogue magazine collection. The dramatic floral wallpaper in the powder room is by Ashley Woodson Bailey.

THESE PAGES Faye chose a subtle pink paint for the walls of the main bedroom inspired by an Ashley Woodson Bailey floral print, Pure Love, she bought years ago; the ceiling is the original pressed tin restored by Press Build, the antique chandelier is from Paris and the couch was bought from French & Sons, a shop in Bulls that Faye says is filled with treasures.