From party house to art house
The people who lived in Alan Clarke and Nikki Romney’s Nelson home before them described it as ‘‘like living in a prison’’.
The tiny, run-down 1960s home had been rented out for 25 years and was known locally as a wild party house, but to Clarke and Romney, it had one huge advantage – its location on Wakefield Quay overlooking Nelson’s waterfront.
The couple bought the 78sqm house in 2011 before beginning a complete renovation that left only the original floor and one wall.
‘‘It was mouldy, damp [and] there were ants everywhere,’’ Romney says. ‘‘We weren’t expecting to need a new roof, but the first night we stayed it rained, and it leaked like crazy.
"We had to put towels on the bed and buckets on the floor.’’
They started by taking a sledgehammer to a wall dividing two bedrooms – to make a room big enough to fit their bed.
The couple say they got a few tips from the tiny houses movement but mostly relied on experience from previous homes for the re-design: Romney has lived in more than 20 houses.
‘‘We frustrated the builders,’’ Romney says. ‘‘We needed to utilise every inch of space. They rolled their eyes a lot.’’
In the kitchen, the sturdy butler’s sink doubles as the laundry tub and space to wash out painting brushes. The microwave is recessed into the wall.
Romney, a full-time artist who mainly paints in oils, painted their own splashback and added a movie quote both love: ‘‘The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by.’’
Floor to ceiling cupboards in the hallway and recessed slider doors throughout are other ways space is maximised.
When guests come over, they usually eat outside at a table Clarke made himself out of a 6m plank that washed up on Haulashore Island across the bay.
‘‘We went back with our kayak and a piece of rope and towed it back,’’ he says.
Interior walls are painted in Resene Thorndon Cream, chosen to increase the feeling of space, and also as a neutral backdrop to their art.
Romney paints portraits and figurative work, Clarke more abstract landscapes.
And in the past few years, they’ve been collaborating on works they call Punktique – quirky sculptural pieces made from antiques, with a nod to steampunk.
The first piece they made was a decapitated doll attached to a spinning top. The second bedroom has been converted into a ‘‘creatory’’ – essentially a parts library for Punktique with open shelves packed with treasures for the next creation. A taxidermy bat sits alongside a 1940s Kewpie doll, a tin soldier, miniature skulls and antique clock parts.
After living in the house for a short time, Romney noticed people looking into the area where the dining room table doubles as her painting studio. She realised the home would work perfectly as a working studio.
Romney says it can be challenging having customers in their home, but overall she enjoys sharing the artistic process.
‘‘Every week I wish I had more space – but really only because there aren’t enough walls to hang our pieces,’’ Romney says.
An external gallery should eventually solve that problem, leaving them to enjoy the seaside sanctuary they’ve created.
The couple originally bought the house to do up and sell on to make a profit. But as Clarke recounts, ‘‘We’d only been here about two days and decided we were going to stay.’’