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A quick decision to buy an old villa has led to a happy Waihī Beach retirement

This perfectly polished Waihī Beach villa was bought on a whim; but the owners couldn’t be happier.

It took just an hour for Don and Karen Hollingsworth to say yes to the real estate agent. It wasn’t part of the plan to buy a house at least a century older than their existing home in Hamilton, but the couple were captivated by what an innocent, “just for fun” visit to a Waihī Beach open home revealed. That was back in January 2018 and the two have strong memories of that day. “The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the setting was just stunning,” Karen recalls. Also appealing, Don adds, were the established trees, the peacefulness and the old 1970s Massey Ferguson 135 tractor that came with the property. The Hollingsworths weren’t the only ones taken with the old villa on its 1ha block minutes from the coast. They ended up in a multi-bid situation, winning by “about an inch”, recalls Don.

“We’ve never put an offer in that quickly. But we both love old things and character homes. It was a real emotional buy,” he says. Totally out of character for this recently retired engineer, according to his wife, who is a former primary school special needs co-ordinator.

As for Karen, she was thrilled they’d bid successfully, yet there was a degree of concern. “I was a bit terrified as I knew buying it meant living there and I had to tell Don I wasn’t living in it in its existing state. Don said he would do what it took.” He was as good as his word. They moved in nearly two years later, after plenty had been achieved thanks to the skills of Aaron Guerin of LAD Architecture, and builder Adam Knight and his team.

The fact that Don’s a handyman and an active relaxer also bode well for this project. His assignments have included building bedroom cabinetry, creating a hallway arch, making a laundry drying rack and restoring furniture. Then it was outside to tackle the hard landscaping and, during Covid lockdown, he repurposed building materials to create a chook shed.

Don says while they didn’t buy “a dilapidated old lady”, pretty much everything needed doing. Built in the late 1880s in the nearby Athenree Gorge, their villa was moved to its current site about 25 years ago.

“It really was a hotchpotch of things,” says Don. “There was an old school door here, and a washing machine there on the back deck where the birds roosted. The kitchen was about a 1950s version and tacked on to the house as a lean-to. But it still had appeal and our brief to Aaron was to retain the integrity of the original house.”

That meant keeping the sash windows, the ceilings with their detailed villa trim, the mātai floorboards (now stained dark), skirting boards, and the verandah filigree and handrails. Old doors have been re-used after hours of scraping and sanding, and a leadlight window has been repurposed to become a feature over the laundry entrance.

“We didn’t want it to look like a granny house. We wanted an old villa with character, charm and with a modern twist,” Karen says. The sympathetic transformation was carried out in stages. The front of the house was modified first, by smartening up the two spacious, high-ceilinged bedrooms, which are in what is now the guest wing. The original lounge got a spruce-up too, which involved restructuring some walls.

Early in 2019 the couple started the next stage, which involved both reconfiguring existing spaces, extending the house and adding decks. The lean-to kitchen was farewelled and a laundry was added.

The house remains a three-bedroom home, but feels much bigger, Karen says, due to the open-plan living area and the new master bedroom wing. What was the original home’s third bedroom – an internal space – is now an office. A second living space has been added and stepped down from the kitchen/dining

‘We both love old things and character homes. It was a real emotional buy’

area, so that the high, raked ceiling could be continued. Deep windows look out over the garden and the Athenree Gorge beyond.

The two new verandahs get plenty of use. One opens off the kitchen and sits between the new master bedroom and lounge. The other – which opens up from the dining area and original lounge – was big enough for dancing when Don recently celebrated his 60th birthday. A louvred roof ensures the open fire with pizza oven is used year-round. Their grandchildren (they have four, with another due any day) think the pizzas and toasted marshmallows are pretty neat, says Karen.

“The grandchildren love coming here. They go for rides on the lawnmower trailer and feed the neighbours’ goats and the eels in the stream. They get up really early, put their gumboots on and go out with Grandad to collect the eggs – Grandad sometimes takes an egg in his pocket to sneak in just in case there are no eggs to be found.

“I just love the fact we can give our grandchildren this kind of lifestyle,” Karen says. As for Don, there’s possibly a new project to keep him busy. Karen thinks the property’s old cowshed should be converted into Airbnb accommodation. Plans are under way.

THESE PAGES Most of the floors in Don and Karen Hollingsworth’s renovated home are mātai, but they chose grey-tinted concrete for the new lounge; the dining room dresser is a Trade Me find that Don restored and Karen loves the quirky Little People pendant light from The Design Depot.

LEFT The Hollingsworths decided to dark-stain the mātai floors and are thrilled with how good they look; the artwork is by fine art photographer Paula Petherick, who has a gallery in Waihī, and the walls are crisp Resene Double Alabaster.

ABOVE Karen and Don in front of a feature wall in the new lounge, painted in Resene Half Fuscous Grey, that sets off artwork by Jane Crisp.

ABOVE Karen asked for light, bright, sunny spaces in her brief to LAD Architecture, and the kitchen skylights and large bifold doors to a new deck have turned out to be favourite features.

RIGHT The mānuka firewood was provided by a neighbour and cut to size by Don, and is referred to as “Karen’s pretty wood” because it’s not intended for burning; the couch and coffee tables are among the very few things bought specifically for this house – they’re from The Design Depot in Hamilton; Don and Karen have added white timber shutters to the bedroom windows, but most other windows have been left undressed.

LEFT The hallway leading to the master bedroom has a colourful rug bought in Byron Bay, Australia, and a teacup painting by Peter Miller.

ABOVE The new master bedroom is a peaceful spot with rural views; it opens out to the new deck and has a spa pool only a few steps away.

RIGHT In the guest wing, space was reconfigured to create a smart black and white bathroom, which was inspired by images found on Pinterest.

THESE PAGES Don resisted the common practice of painting heritage villas white, opting to use Resene Quarter Delta, a soft grey, on the weatherboards so the white trim stands out.

BELOW This new outdoor seating area off the kitchen is flanked by the master bedroom wing on the left, and the new lounge on the right.

ABOVE The dining room and original lounge open to a covered outdoor space, which was added as part of the renovation; it was the hub for Don’s 60th birthday party, with guests spilling out onto the lawns; the Flare fire has a small pizza oven inside.