A barnstorming location
Room of the week
Lyn Atkinson and Barry Rich have created a party barn at their Waipara Valley property.
Lyn Atkinson and her husband Barry Rich have spent more than a decade cultivating their 5ha patch of garden, grapes and river flat in the Waipara Valley. For the first part of their tenure, they lived in Christchurch, and dedicated a day a week to their rural idyll.
Most weekends they would leap out of bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning, pack a lunch and be on site in time for a 10-hour day outdoors. Lyn says a day of physical work would leave her feeling refreshed and renewed for the week ahead.
‘‘I’d set myself a goal,’’ she says. ‘‘I would say I have 50 hornbeams to plant this weekend. Or 25 poplars. We would bound out of the car, Barry in one direction and me in the other, focused on the individual tasks we had chatted about on the way to Waipara.’’
The largely flat, undeveloped site was a pleasure to landscape after 30 years of gardening on their steep, terraced city property. The fact that it was 50 times bigger didn’t faze them. They were overjoyed at the prospect of using a ride-on lawnmower for the first time. They were also smitten by the swift-flowing Omihi Stream, which divides their land and now gives its name to their property.
They felled 180 rangy old pine trees and planted hundreds of new trees and shrubs. The old sheep yards were converted into a wildflower meadow and they established a small vineyard, along with paving, hedges, a vegetable garden and an orchard. But, best of all, they transformed the old panelbeater’s shed on the property into a charming, oneroom party barn. ‘‘It’s very comfy,’’ says Lyn. ‘‘We’ve had some lovely parties there, even an opera singer!’’ What was your vision? We bought the property while we still had our Sumner home and, as we enjoy entertaining, we wanted to share it with our friends and family. At the time the house was tenanted, so we needed another venue. I thought the panelbeaters shed (previously an agricultural barn) had prospects. It was large, had corrugated walls that I liked, a concrete floor that could be cleaned easily. I thought it could be made to look rustic and charming.
What was the renovation process?
We had a builder do the work on the barn – the roof was changed to a much more attractive pitch, four second-hand windows were added, along with some wooden shutters for the outside – these were painted a soft blue to match the hills in the distance and the Versailles containers at the front, which are now filled with buxus balls.
We put a petanque court at the end of the barn where gravel had been for cars. What about the decor? A table, two couches a coffee table and a large serving table built along the back wall were made using wood from recycled cattle and sheep yards. A friend made us the blackboard (it hides the irrigation system), and this is used to display the menu when we have parties. White squabs and cushions were made out of heavy lining – white seems odd, but I find it easy to keep clean.
I do cover them with sheets when they are not in use. Black and white patterned cushions add a bit of contrast along with cane chairs. I was fortunate to have already some lovely old French shutters, wine barrels and metal flower containers as well as an extra fridge for the food and wine.
A friend suggested I paint the fridge black so we did. And a party barn was born. What are working on now? I ampresently working on a spring party to coincide with the daffodils and blossom in our orchard, so lots of daffodils on the table with spring flowers. Canterbury spring lamb might be on the menu and a bunny rabbit hunt for the grandchildren – carrots will be the prize at each station, and a treat at the end.