No pressure, but the owner of this Franklin Rd cottage wouldn’t dream of not lighting up her home.

The owner of a pint-sized Freemans Bay cottage loves being part of Auckland’s most popular Christmas street

Cathy Gould knew what she was in for when she bought her little miner’s cottage seven years ago. Even though she continued to live in Matakana (see NZ House & Garden November 2015), using the Freemans Bay property as her city pad, she always made sure the house was dressed for the festive season. It is, after all, sited on the famously fabulous fairy-lit Franklin Road, which has hosted the Yuletide celebration for over 25 years.

Not that there’s any pressure to join in. None whatsoever, she says, but she wouldn’t dream of not lighting up. “It’s a lovely feeling to be giving some of the Christmas spirit to Auckland. I’m really proud of what we do here and I love that month. We have such a lovely community of people in this street.”

The annual display of lights has become a must-see fixture for thousands of Auckland families who throng the streets. >

Usually a well-known New Zealander (last year it was GovernorGeneral Dame Patsy Reddy) trips the switch for the lights on 1 December, and then the residents celebrate with their own party. The honoured guest is always a well-kept secret until the night.

Over the years a gentle competition has grown among the various homeowners, and a few try to outdo each other, but others, like Cathy, stick to what works. “It’s a big enough job to get the lights up as it is,” she says pointing to the bulging sacks of extension cords and lights on the floor.

Storage is also an issue in a small cottage. Last year Mercury Energy customers were given a discount and the company also donated lights to the display.

This Christmas will mark the first year Cathy has spent fulltime in the house, having come full circle and moved back to town. Although she loves gardening and adores gussying up houses, there was too much of both on her lifestyle property. “It just felt like housework all the time, inside and out,” she says. So she’s come back to the city and is revelling in the busyness of one of Auckland’s most travelled streets.

But despite the Christmas traffic and roadworks as Auckland Transport installs a new roundabout, cycle path, fancy footpaths and berms on her street, she barely hears a thing, thanks to the double glazing she put in her upstairs bedroom. One-year-old granddaughter Willow can enjoy a midday nap in peace.

The only noise she notices is during December evenings: people laughing and talking as they make their annual Franklin Road pilgrimage. “They’re happy, bubbly noises, the sort of sounds that make you feel part of the joy and magic of Christmas.”

Inside the three storey home she’s enhanced the sense of space and unified the house by painting all the walls white. Downstairs the theme is black and white, as the front door and window trims were already black. Upstairs the accents are in the details like the dachshund patterned roman blinds in the television room. Cathy’s array of modern art features a lot of florals including work by Sally Tagg, Antonio Murado and Karl Maughan and there are carefully arranged tabletop displays of glass and silver. >

Outside, the avid gardener has created a lush floral garden in a remarkably small space at the rear. “I’m thrilled with my fake grass,” she says and so is Harvey, the Welsh springer spaniel, who loves a good scratch out here yet never comes inside with muddy feet. The black lace screen shielding the garden from the neighbours is a Bunnings bargain and, as luck would have it, perfectly echoes the black and white floral blinds in the kitchen.

Now that she’s back in town Cathy has thrown herself into city life, working two days a week at clothing store Wixii in Ponsonby Central as well as learning to knit, making items for social enterprise Make, Give, Live.

This is not the first time Cathy has lived in Freemans Bay but she’s thrilled to be back. “Be careful what you wish for,” she says. “When I bought this house I thought it would be perfect for when I’m a little old lady sitting in the front room happily watching the world go by. Not that I’m a little old lady yet,” she adds.

Indeed not. She’s not one for sitting still. She’s the making and doing sort. Given that NZ House & Garden has already featured three of her houses (she won best living room as well as highly commended bedroom in the 2015 NZ House & Garden Interior of the Year award), is this her final house?

“No,” says Cathy. “I’m involved in designing the interiors for a new build in Matakana but I have no plans to sell this house.”

THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left) Cathy won the Julie Collis vase for best living room in the NZ House & Garden Interior of the Year awards 2015. Welsh springer spaniel Harvey sits below a painting by Auckland artist Christina Pataialii. The painting behind Cathy and Harvey is Justine by Antonio Murado. OPPOSITE Old and new combine in the front room with a painting by Judy Millar, antique silver candlesticks and a French sewing stool in the original covering; the LED houses on the mantelpiece are from Citta.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from left) The new kitchen was installed by Kitchen Spectrum with minimum fuss, says Cathy; black and white elements recur throughout the home. A Jude Rae painting beside cabinets full of Cathy’s vintage china and glassware; the clip-on birds on the tree are from Freedom. Small pieces by Judy Millar and Max Gimblett add to the layering in the house. To make the most of the tall, narrow house, Cathy blonded the kauri floors and painted the walls Resene ‘Black Haze’.