Under the Sumner sun

Shades of mid-century New Zealand and Palm Springs, Italy and France dapple this house with character.

Shades of New Zealand, Palm Springs, Italy and France dapple this house with character.

Following the sun and surf around Aotearoa, Abbie and Gus Herniman have lived in coastal towns for most of their life together, so when they decided to return to Christchurch, where Abbie grew up, the search began for a new seaside spot to call home. “We walked around our favourite suburb of Sumner and put flyers in the letterboxes of about 30 houses that looked like they were ripe for renovation,” says Abbie. “This was one of them.”

In the valley behind the beach, the large section they scored has plenty of green space dotted with kauri, rimu and fruit trees. The bougainvillea that climbs the side of the house announces the new year when it blooms in brilliant magenta, and the surrounding Port Hills add a verdant view from almost every angle too. Inside, the dwelling was well made and beautifully maintained, but its small rooms needed to be updated for modern life.

Living in the house for a year before they embarked on the renovation helped the couple settle on what would serve them best spatially. When the time was right, they engaged architect Aaron Jones of Urban Function Architecture — a regular collaborator of Abbie’s in her work as interior designer at The Home Maker — and planned an extension that would utilise the front of the section while reworking the home’s two-storey footprint for efficiency.

“Aaron suggested pushing out the southern side of the house 60cm to the edge of the existing roofline,” says Abbie.

THE PROJECT

With Aaron Jones of Urban Function Architecture, interior designer Abbie Herniman and her security consultant husband Gus renovated this four-bedroom home in Sumner, Christchurch for themselves and their children Cassius (21), Ava (8) and Finn (5).

“It was a small change, but it meant the original study became big enough to turn into a bedroom, the bathroom could accommodate a new bath, and the cabinetry in both the kitchen and lounge fitted into the new-found space, changing the interior’s functionality immensely.”

A major drawcard for the move back to Christchurch was proximity to Abbie’s extended family, something that came in handy when it came to realising the reno. “The build was a family affair,” says Abbie. “My two brothers — Mike Fordham of Craft Carpentry and Chris Fordham — headed the build, and at times we had Gus, my father, his brother and my nephew working side by side. Our tradies were all long-term friends of ours too. There’s love in every crevice of this home.

“To add to the magic of it, unbeknown to us when we purchased the property, Mike’s partner’s parents live next door, so over the years Mike had enjoyed many long conversations with our home’s former owner, Joe Westerman, who designed and built the house for his family in the 1950s and lived in it until he died. It was an honour for Mike to bring it into the modern era, while respecting the love with which it was built by reusing all that he could to retain the original character.”

Plenty of the old has made its way into Abbie’s new material palette. The existing brass hardware and rimu flooring and joinery teamed naturally with exposed bricks and breeze blocks, borrowing from the Palm Springs aesthetic Abbie

“Never sacrifice function for form or form for function — I live by this rule.”

ABOVE RIGHT Above a Tonk stool by St Clements and a vintage chair found on Trade Me, this painting, Face Plant Here, is by Jessica Watts, but a lot of the other art in this house is photos from Abbie’s once-in-a-lifetime European adventure. “While giving the kids a bath, I can stare up at Positano Beach, and I lie in bed and look at the Tuileries Garden,” she says. ABOVE LEFT, OPPOSITE & PREVIOUS PAGE Abbie wanted to incorporate Palm Springs style, so she brought internal brick walls into the entryway and dining space, and specified a breeze-block fence that can be viewed from the open-plan living area through new bifold doors. “From inside, the fence looks like a wall of art, plus it creates privacy and interesting shadows on the deck,” she says. The standout seating on the previous page includes a Fairfax chair by Coco Republic; the recycled plastic Marlborough outdoor chairs pictured above left are from Katamama.

ABOVE LEFT The crew matched the new floors to the recycled timber, then gave it all a coat of whitewash to tone down the red in the rimu. This corner of the living area is decorated with Queen of Light by Jenna Paige, and a Cuzzi II lamp by St Clements on a custom-made coffee table. ABOVE RIGHT In the dining area, Rattan Art chairs from Corcovado cluster around an Omaha table from Hunter Furniture under a lightshade from Annabelle’s. On the vintage sideboard behind them are vintage candlesticks Abbie picked up in Italy and an urn from Bohème Home.

KITCHEN “Too often, kitchens lack beauty and warmth, but I believe you should show your personality in them just as you would in any other room,” says Abbie. “In my kitchen, I used white melamine for the island and Infinity acrylic in Arctic White for the benchtop, with American white oak veneer and black-stained oak for the cabinetry. I love the warmth timber brings and the contrast achieved through the touches of black, which continue into the living space. I also love the greenery showcased through the splashback window.”