RIVIER A SOUTH

Far from crowded northern beaches, a wee cottage on the southernmost reaches of the mainland has a time-tested magic all of its own

Nostalgia rules at a simple Southland crib

Cindy clark refers to her 120-year-old crib at Riverton in Southland as her “bits and pieces house”. There, in a little cottage in an old whaling town at the farthest reaches of the South Island, she’s been free to decorate in a style that would be unthinkable at the more modern farmhouse she shares with partner Guy Talboys, a 30-minute drive away at Heddon Bush. But at the crib, fairy lights make an appearance in a raspberry-painted guest bedroom, snail shells bought in a French market line a window sill and brightly coloured bunting hangs in the lime-green sunroom.

“I never have things like that at home because I don’t like clutter, but you can do it here,” says Cindy. “There’s a charm about it.”

Cindy, a trained artist who also teaches art to school-aged students at her wide-windowed studio in Southland, and Guy, a beef and sheep farmer, bought Tigh-Na-Mara in 2005. The name, bestowed on the house when it was built 120 years ago (an approximate date; Cindy thinks it could be older still), is Gaelic for Little Cottage by the Sea.

Cindy and Guy had their eyes on the crib long before they purchased it. They often holidayed at Guy’s parents’ place next door, where he had been coming to spend his summer holidays since he was a boy – and his mother before that, when the bach belonged to Guy’s grandparents. “Tigh-Na-Mara was a charming little original Riverton house that had character,” says Cindy. “And all of those wee houses are getting pulled down now. So I said to the previous owners, about 20 years ago, to contact us if they ever thought of selling. And they phoned us one day and said that they wanted to move on and that we could have it.” >

Even Guy’s mother, now in her nineties, remembers thinking Tigh-Na-Mara was old when she was still a youngster, but despite the cottage’s grand old age, it was in good condition when Cindy and Guy took over. “It’s always been cared for very well; it’s in very good order,” says Cindy.

That meant Cindy and Guy didn’t need to make any structural changes to its few rooms. Typical of Riverton houses of that era, it has just two bedrooms, a kitchen and a sunroom, though a bathroom and laundry were added 60 years ago. They did, however, update the mismatched carpets and repaint the walls, providing an opportunity for Cindy to try out bright colours she wouldn’t use at home, where she favours off-white for her walls.

Over the years, Cindy and Guy have decorated Tigh-NaMara with furniture, art and knick-knacks from their house at Heddon Bush (a few pieces that appeared in their farmhouse when it featured in NZ House & Garden in November 2000 have made their way to Riverton). There are also pieces gathered on the couple’s travels, including a vintage tiddlywinks set picked

THIS PAGE (from top) Cindy beside the home’s original sign, which she repainted; Cindy found the battered old craypot in a junk shop. The living room leads into the master bedroom; the cream linen couches were previously at Cindy and Guy’s farmhouse...

THIS PAGE The view from Cindy Clark and Guy Talboys’ Riverton crib looks out over Taramea Bay. OPPOSITE (clockwise from top left) Cindy is a dab hand at finding op shop treasures as this back door area shows, although the French deck chairs were...

THIS PAGE The sunroom has a fold-out bed and leads to a raspberry-painted bedroom; Cindy and Guy’s son Jonathan did the colourful artwork when he was about 15; the other piece of art features wire figures holding hands and was bought at an exhibition...