COAST AND COUNTRY
494 MATAKANA ROAD, MATAKANA
Avision to take the colours and textures of the clay soil around Matakana to develop a palette for a house design worked perfectly for Pat Vegar-Fitzgerald and gave her exactly the home she wanted.
The talented serial home builder and renovator had “always had a thing about Matakana” and one day when she and husband Kevin Fitzgerald were driving up there they noticed a piece of land sitting beautifully to the north.
“It was a no-brainer from there,” Pat says. “We visited the owner and he promised that if he was ever going to sell he would contact us.”
Several months later, Pat got the call she’d been waiting for — a real estate agent phoned and said the owner had requested she be contacted because the property was for sale. “We purchased it that night.” The house Pat envisaged for the property was not going to be built with re-sale in mind. “It was totally for me. I had this brave vision to blend it in with the clay and the pasture and the vineyards, and I wanted it to be solid and bulky and to look as if it had grown out of the ground.”
After sitting at the back of the land and looking across the property to the view, Pat designed a dramatic home on a grand scale — 600sq m with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, expansive living spaces, a family room, outdoor entertaining areas, a heated indoor pool and an cellar.
“I hate to use this expression but it really is a touch of Tuscany,” Pat says of the architecture. The views of olive groves, pasture and bush contribute to the that character.
In the tradition of a European family estate, the house is warm and relaxed. Pat was determined that it should not be precious, that people wouldn’t have to take their shoes off, that grandchildren could play and workers could gather in comfort.
The beautiful panelled entrance door sets the scene. Pat says it was chosen as a statement about what is behind it. The reality does not disappoint.
The hub of the home is the kitchen and the Aga, which Pat dearly loves, it provides food and warmth to feed heart and soul. Adjoining scullery and utility rooms mean the kitchen can be appreciated as a design masterpiece with its tiled walls, bespoke cabinetry and timber detailing.
“My husband had a keen interest in timber when we came here,” Pat says. “There was macrocarpa on the property so we have used that in the house, and I’ve traded bits and pieces with tradesmen and craftspeople for other detailing.” That includes exposed ceiling beams, sarking, wall and ceiling beams in the cellar, and hefty timber for the pergolas.
Another design feature is the change of level Pat incorporated to provide intimate spaces within the large footprint. There’s a cosy sitting area a couple of steps down from the living-dining space that opens to the terrace through bifolds on two sides. A fireplace is used on winter days.
Upstairs the master bedroom captures vine and pasture views. It’s a sanctuary with a balcony, cedar