ONCE A BACKPACKERS LOOK AT IT NOW!
Travellers still come knocking, but this former backpackers hostel is a family home once again
Jacqui and graham nelson are used to travellers knocking on their mustard-coloured front door. That’s because their two-storey villa was a popular Wellington hostel for 40 years. “Just last week we had to turn away an Argentinian backpacker,” says Jacqui. The couple raised their twin boys and two daughters on a lifestyle property on the Kapiti Coast. But the kids had left home and Jacqui wanted to be closer to work – as GM Operations for Contact Energy she travels frequently and had grown tired of rising at 4am to drive to the airport – so they started scouring real estate listings. Inner-city Mt Victoria appealed, because of its north-facing sunny aspect, and in 2012 they managed to wrest the 1890 property away from four other keen buyers. >
“We realised it would take a lot of work to turn a dark, 10-bedroom, four-bathroom backpackers into a family home, but we were looking for a challenge,” says Graham, a wealth management adviser for FNZC.
Having renovated several houses and built two new homes, the couple, who met while doing chemistry degrees at Otago University, were hardly renovation novices. “We love the fun and opportunity of trying new things and creating new homes for the different times in our lives,” says Jacqui.
But the scale of this 14-month project was breathtaking and included jacking up the house to re-pile it and stripping back every interior wall to bare timber. Oh, and don’t forget the small matter of removing 100 skips of clay soil.
Architectural designer Peter Davis found the original plans at the council. “Because they made sense we pretty much returned the house to that footprint,” says Jacqui.
They opened up the ground floor and added a sun-splashed kitchen, which is the heart of this home. Jacqui loves to cook, so having ample prepping and cooking space was essential. Striking Orla Kiely black and white wallpaper and vintage lights from Auckland store Vitrine ensure it’s also stylish.
It’s the perfect space for the frequent dinner parties this sociable couple love to throw, which can range from two people to 20. “It all depends on who shows up! But we recently had a cocktail party for 60 of Graham’s work colleagues, which worked really well in this space,” says Jacqui.
Downstairs, three bedrooms were converted into the adjacent living room/formal dining room where Jacqui’s love of colour and design is evident. She had the two sofas and mid-century chairs re-covered in jewel tones. Graham picked the crystal Tom Dixon lights (see above), which he imported from the UK.
“Our electrician didn’t understand that we wanted the lights to hang at different lengths,” says Graham. “Fortunately we stood our ground, because in the last big earthquake they were swinging violently around and would have smashed if they’d been at the same level.” >
“We absolutely love having the place to ourselves now that the kids have flown the nest. But they also bounce back often, which is great”
Old and new sit happily side by side in this house, particularly in the master bedroom, which used to be the hostel’s common room. Jacqui spied the orange Farrow & Ball wallpaper in a British magazine and knew the vintage Victorian pattern would work with the room’s 3.3m high stud. “Not everyone agreed, but I love it!” She found the antique wardrobe on a trip to Greytown.
Upstairs, three bathrooms morphed into a separate toilet and family bathroom, which features a 200kg steel bath that required four burly blokes to transport it.
The couple say the best moment of the renovation was removing the firewall at the top of the stairs, which flooded the space with light. The hostel’s five upstairs bedrooms were converted into three, which are used by the couple’s children and their friends whenever they return home.
“We absolutely love having the place to ourselves now that the kids have flown the nest,” says Jacqui. “But they also bounce back often, which is great.”
Dotted throughout the house is the couple’s art collection, which started 20 years ago with the large, colourful piece by Picton-based Finnish artist Sirpa Alalaakaaola, which now greets visitors at the front door.
Jacqui loves gardening and one of her non-negotiables on leaving a lifestyle block was to have a garden. However, she had to “start at ground zero” with the rear section. >
“It was an overgrown jungle, containing all sorts of rubbish. We removed a sleepout and an old bus shelter and asked landscaper Rebecca Wilson to help us.”
They created different zones for flowering trees, veges and an orchard including plum, fig, pear, peach and apple trees.
Having torn down two unstable chimneys and given away the red bricks, Jacqui had to buy them back on Trade Me. “We needed them for the garden’s retaining walls and paths,” she says.
With the landscaping almost finished, Jacqui and Graham are finally able to put their feet up. “It was a bigger project than we anticipated but it’s been a pleasure to be able to breathe life into this old girl,” says Jacqui. “However, we are always looking for the next challenge so who knows where we might end up?”