An Auckland couple head to the country with their cats, cars and design ideas.
Swapping city for rural life benefits one couple’s car collection, their cats – and their contentment levels
Aginger tomcat slinks across the paddock next to Garry Cullen and Phil Stickney’s house in the hills south of Auckland. Garry sighs with frustration: “When we lived in the city, the cats were so affectionate. Now, we hardly see them.” Feline sensibilities aren’t the only ones affected by the move from cheek-by-jowl living in Auckland. Although the couple’s friends were sceptical about them leaving behind their pristinely renovated Herne Bay villa for life in the country, Phil and Garry are loving it. They often work from home – Garry as an architect and Phil as a planning consultant – from a home office off the second living area that can be shut off with large sliding doors, so there’s no motorway commute.
Garry designed the house specifically for their needs. That included an entire wing given over to garaging for their collection of classic American cars. There’s a rare 1958 Edsel alongside a clutch of Fords including a wood-sided station wagon, a sleek midnight blue Continental Mark V and an elegant ivory 1961 Lincoln Continental with turquoise leather seats similar to one gifted to Jackie Kennedy.
Garry jokes that they “tend to move every time the
garage gets full” but they were ready for a challenge that would differ from villa renovations.
Says Phil: “For the first two months we had separation anxiety and would be in the city for lunch and dinner regularly. Then that got less. It’s certainly a great way not to spend money, being here, because once we check the motorway cameras and see how busy it is…”
And once they found a local mechanic who could work on old cars, they knew life would be fine. “Everyone is so relaxed, everything operates at a slower pace. Local knowledge is key,” says Phil. That included employing the neighbour, Grant Kern, who had sold them the land to build the house. “He’s a real craftsman – and he collects MGs.”
Their local friends now outnumber those they have in the city, and they’ve been surprised at how many car collectors live in the area: “Everyone seems to have a shed full of cars,” says Garry.
The section was one of the first they viewed, and they kept coming back to it, attracted by the rural views, its orientation and the fact that it sits 300m inside the Waikato district boundary so Phil knew that zoning would protect them from being built-out in future. At 0.8ha, it wasn’t too large to scare them off their first foray into rural living: “We didn’t know if we were going to like rural life so it was a toe in the water,” says Phil.
During the design phase, Phil became the client, with a set budget in mind. Their vision for the house
‘We didn’t know if we were going to like rural life so it was a toe in the water’
was mid-century modern meets country. Garry chose a limited palette of materials: concrete, steel and timber. He sought inspiration from the rich red tones of the Pukekohe soil and replicated that in feature stonework inside and corten steel.
When the stonemason came to install the fireplace wall and a feature wall by the entry, he asked Phil what style was required. Phil showed him a photograph of actor Dinah Shore’s house in Palm Springs: “And that’s what we got.”
Having owned century-old villas, they wanted a low-maintenance exterior so chose black Colorsteel as the cladding. “You can’t be too precious about things like spiders; in fact, we often say we live in a tin shack disguised as a cobweb,” says Garry.
The “car barn” wing was built first, along with a bar/kitchen, and the couple lived in it for six months while the rest of the house was being built.
After moving into the completed house in 2016, they focused on the landscaping, installing a pool and doing some planting. Says Phil: “We underestimated the scale and expense of the landscaping. After coming from the city it took us a while to get used to buying plants 100 at a time.”
They used a “two strikes then you’re out” policy for plants so now have a garden populated by hardy,
drought-resistant varieties. Getting used to using only tank water has been a learning curve and they were determined to replicate city-style water pressure so a decent pump was a must.
Says Garry: “It’s far better to go single level in the country and spread out to create a larger roof space to catch more rain.”
The work hasn’t stopped yet. They’d like to cover their internal courtyard with a louvred roof next. “You can never have too many sheltered outdoor living spaces,” says Garry.
There’s a covered terrace to the north between the main living area and the pool, and another more sheltered space between the garage and the two guest bedrooms. The couple’s original intent to run those two bedrooms as B&B accommodation hasn’t eventuated, but are handy for visiting friends and family. However the house is used, it has been a great success – perfect for a couple, their cars and even their wayward cats.
Q&A
Favourite seat in the house: My Eames chair is so comfortable and it’s in a prime spot for the view – as long as I can get to it before the cats. (Garry)
Favourite outdoor spot: On the outdoor sofas for the view, and it’s not too far from the wine fridge. (Phil)
A quote I often use: We’ve gone rural but not feral. But our neighbour often jokes: “This is not Grey Lynn you know, you don’t just go outside, trim your mondo then come inside for a gin.” (Phil)
Best build win: Being in the Waikato district which meant we could have three open fires – two inside and one out. (Garry)
A¯whitu Regional Favourite local place to visit:
Park has stunning scenery and is almost always deserted. (Phil)
What you might not know about this area: That it has a lot of history. There’s now a classic 80-year-old coastal steamer, the Ratahi, running on the harbour from the Waiuku wharf. (Phil)
Bravest thing we did: Black walls – it’s only paint, but we did have a moment when we wondered if we should do it. (Garry)
Garry Cullen and Phil Stickney