Home of the Month: Family connections result in an incredible Christchurch renovation.

Family connections were the key to a breathtaking Christchurch renovation

Interior designer Jessica Close uses the term simpatico to describe her style. “I like there to be a distinction between rooms, but at the same time make sure they are visually connected and speak to each other.” The term, defined as “getting along and having mutual understanding with another”, could equally be applied to her whānau. “We are all very close,” she says of her Christchurch family. Sunday night is curry night. “Everyone is required to come. No excuses. People know not to ask us anywhere on Sundays,” she says. Parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins plus any hangers-on turn up at the appointed family home each week. Jessica’s husband, Richard, was in the last category, brought along by a friend who assured her that he wasn’t her type. They were married a year later.

So when Jessica’s aunt and uncle were in need of an interior designer to refurbish their new home, they needed only look across the table. “We completely trust Jessica. She has immaculate taste and we knew she would have our best interests at heart,” says her aunt.

The couple had been rattling around in a large house on a 2000sqm section since their two sons had left home. Their desire to downsize was coupled

‘She has immaculate taste and we knew she would have our best interests at heart’

with a wish to be closer to the central city and the rest of the family. They had found a house in the perfect location, just around the corner from Jessica and Richard. But while the earthquake rebuild had the look and proportions of the classic weatherboard cottage that had been on the site, the interior lacked both character and charm.

“It had the bones,” says Jessica. It just required some extensive orthopaedic and cosmetic surgery. “I was very flattered when they asked me to undertake such a complete refurbishment. They were incredibly trusting.”

The house was gutted, doorways opened up to create better flow, aluminium windows and doors replaced with timber and the tiled floors relaid with American oak.

Jessica then presented her aunt and uncle with design boards (a visual display of swatches and cuttings) for each room, giving options but not overwhelming the busy couple with too many choices. “I don’t come with books, I come with a very complete look,” she says.

The couple’s extensive art collection was pivotal to many decisions and in keeping with Jessica’s penchant for things bespoke. The art now hangs on handpainted wallpapers and sits amongst antiques and locally handcrafted joinery by Lyall Park Joinery.

Jessica spent three formative years in London working for interior designer Gavin Houghton, which seeded her love of English interiors. She avoids following colour trends, instead taking her lead from nature’s palette. Restful

‘It’s about putting the right tones together’

greens, blues and greys form a backdrop for other hues. “You can have every colour of the rainbow in the same room, just as you can in a garden. It’s about putting the right tones together.”

Her style leans towards decorum rather than decoration, but like a sweetly smiling suffragette, there is intelligence and strength beneath the genteel exterior. “A room always needs a bit of wit,” she says. The sitting room’s surprise is sunny yellow alongside a soft pink sofa. “I would never have picked those colours but we love it,” says her aunt. “Jessica is very good at knowing what furniture and colours will bring a room together. It’s an amazing transformation.”

Given the clan mantra that families that eat together stay together, it’s no surprise that they list their dining table as their most important piece of furniture. The long table occupies a prominent position between kitchen and living room with a food-themed Fiona Pardington still-life at one end and chairs upholstered in indestructible horsehair to withstand decades of family dinners.

“It was a dream working for my uncle and aunt. I love working with family,” enthuses Jessica, who is now helping renovate her sister’s house in Sydney. “Because of Covid, we have been doing it all through WhatsApp and Zoom but it’s worked really well.”

A home doesn’t begin and end at the doors, and “simpatico” also aptly describes the garden’s relationship to the house. Designed by landscape architect Rob Watson, the spaces outside reflect the mood and tones of their

internal counterparts. Rob was presented with a bleak blank slate, with asphalt from the street to the front door.

“It was about creating a garden that was empathic with the house. It needed colour, warmth, texture and a bit of music,” he says. Rob has composed a melody in mauves, blues, creams and greys with red sedums and golden towers of phlomis adding colour in summer.

At the heart of the charming front courtyard is a vaulted black steel pergola leading visitors from the gate to the house’s shingled portico. A striking sculptural statement in winter, it drips with wisteria come spring and is a leafy green bower in summer.

Out the back, the kitchen-living room opens onto a deep wooden verandah which steps down to a paved and planted north-west facing suntrap. Just the spot to stage long alfresco summer curry nights.

THESE PAGES Interior designer Jessica Close painted her aunt and uncle’s sitting room pink, allowing a Kim Meek artwork to shine above the fireplace; a Montferrat Leaf chandelier by Vaughan Designs hangs above an ottoman; the sofa is upholstered in Nicholas Herbert pink linen and the armchairs are in a Bennison Fabrics print, all custom-made by Designers’ Collection; Adrienne Millwood’s painting Flight hangs to the left of the doorway.

THIS PAGE The open-plan living space between the kitchen and verandah has an antique sideboard and bottle lamps from Haunt Antiques; a deep-buttoned ottoman in a Soane Britain fabric and armchairs in blue linen sit on a sisal rug custom-made by Source Mondial; the curtains are in Pavilion Stripe by Bennison Fabrics and the chandelier is a bronze Montferrat Leaf by Vaughan Designs. OPPOSITE Jessica Close and Sparky the spoodle share a comfortable sofa upholstered in a Sanderson linen.

THIS PAGE (clockwise from left) The kitchen was designed by Jessica and made by Lyall Park Joinery; the walls are painted in Tablecloth and the woodwork is in Slate III, both from Paint & Paper Library. Some of the dining chairs have been hand-painted and reupholstered in indestructible John Boyd Textiles blue horsehair. Jessica with two of her three children, Margaret and Wilfred. OPPOSITE A Fiona Pardington still-life presides over the antique dining table and chairs.

THIS PAGE (from left) A custom-built cabinet houses books, photos, ornaments and a TV in the media room which has white wooden shutters for privacy and curtains in a fabric from China Seas. The guest powder room, wallpapered in Seaweed Lace by Soane Britain, features a dark green pediment mirror by Bridie Hall At Home above a basin by Perrin & Rowe from In Residence. OPPOSITE A custom-made headboard upholstered in a green Schumacher velvet adds lushness to the guest bedroom; the cushions are from Jean Monro, made to match the curtains.

THIS PAGE (from left) The main bedroom, with its Dianthus Chintz wallpaper from Soane Britain, is Jessica’s favourite room: “It’s like a sanctuary. I kept the headboard and curtains plain and simple to allow the wallpaper to do all the talking.” The window seat provides storage as well as a perfect spot to view the front garden; plain curtains are trimmed with a George Spencer Designs fringe. OPPOSITE Sparky relaxes on an antique pew reupholstered in green velvet in a niche beside the front door: “I wanted it to feel as though you were walking into an enveloping green space,” says Jessica, who chose Burley wallpaper from Veere Grenney for the hallway.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) A pergola, draped with Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’, canopies the entrance path with a sea of yellow Jerusalem sage (Phlomis russeliana) below, as well as vibrant blue Iris sibirica and daphne. An Indian sandstone path leads to the front door. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) leans over the path towards the silver foliage of lamb’s ears (Stachys lanata) and white Margaret Merril roses.