Home of the Month: An unexpected decision brought peace of mind to this film-producing Auckland homeowner.
Practicality went out the window when an Auckland woman first saw this soulful villa
During their 29 years of marriage, film and television producer Robin Scholes and her architect husband Ivano Bargiacchi never settled in one place for long. They moved a total of 13 times, tackling major renovations and new builds along the way, and living mostly in modern homes that were ideal for showcasing their collection of contemporary art.
Then sadly Ivano was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the couple set about looking for the home where Robin could live alone some day. The idea was that it should be fully renovated and low maintenance, so definitely not a rambling century-old villa, in need of much love, with a large garden terraced steeply down to the water’s edge.
When he first viewed the two-storey house in Auckland’s Herne Bay, Robin’s late husband was unimpressed.
“He said it was a mouldy old wreck and there was no way he’d agree to buy it,” she recalls. “Then he watched me walking through the garden and saw how it would be a source of pleasure for me, and said if I really wanted to buy the place, he’d go along with it.”
Robin, whose screen credits include movies such as Once Were Warriors and Mr Pip, has never regretted that decision. Although this is a large house, she manages to use every single room in it, every day. The downstairs has been converted into the office from which she runs her business and the
living area above has been restored to maintain its true villa character.
With all the places they built and renovated together previously it was Ivano who designed the house while Robin’s province was the garden. “This time was different,” she says. “It was more like I was his client and he was thinking about what I wanted.”
The graceful old building was designed in the early 20th century by architect William Holman, and some changes had already been made by previous owners; most notably the original wraparound verandah was enclosed at some point to enlarge the house’s interior footprint.
Robin wanted to preserve what was left and improve where she could. So while the far end of the house has been opened up a little more to make the
most of its view across Coxs Bay to the Waitākere Ranges, the architect would still recognise his wood-panelled sitting and dining rooms, original fireplaces, a long hallway with soaring arches and the classic lines of the building.
“Some people can’t understand why I haven’t built a big deck and a cantilevered swimming pool,” Robin admits. “But to me that’s imposing another structure. I like the house the way it is. What I’ve inherited I want to keep.”
Neither she nor Ivano were interested in smoothing over imperfections. Robin even loves the old worm holes in the kauri floorboards and the fact she has exposed them. And she enjoys the home’s curiosities, like the corner room on the lower floor that has been turned into a hothouse, and a little nook off the hallway where she stores her collection of movies.
Ivano completed a lot of work while he was still well enough and Robin has continued to improve the house, as she has been able to afford to.
By necessity her impressive art collection has been whittled down to fund the restoration although she has kept a few key pieces, including an original set of Barry Lett prints from 1968, a favourite painting by Robert Ellis which hangs in the sitting
room, and a Ralph Hotere that was purchased in Dunedin.
Other bare walls have been turned into works of art with coverings of hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper sourced from Auckland antiques store Baran de Bordeaux.
“I saw it in a magazine and thought it looked amazing,” says Robin. “If I could afford it I’d do another big wall of de Gournay in the hallway.”
Very few light fittings remained when she took ownership, so Robin also spent time wandering through antiques stores in search of art deco lamps, chandeliers and pendant lights, coming across a particularly exciting trove in a shop in Thames, Coromandel.
At 76, she is conscious of not being weighed down by too much stuff. Still, there are some pieces she would never part with. Like the 17th century trunk that was a gift from her mother when she was 21 and the large collection of Crown Lynn swan vases displayed in the dining room.
“My mother had a Crown Lynn swan that I loved and it got broken in a move,” Robin explains. “So I went on to Trade Me and started buying them and stopped when I got to 17. There’s space for more but that seems like the right number.”
As the years have gone by Robin has also made changes to her furnishings, acquiring smaller, more contemporary pieces.
“I like moving things around a lot so I’ve got rid
of the heavy old sofas and bought lighter furniture I can move by myself,” she explains.
The garden remains a passion and is where she spends most of her weekends, tending the vegetable patch and the topiary. She is developing an area where guests can sit to eat and drink, and a future plan is to link that with the kitchen, via a spiral staircase. There is work to be done still, and most likely no end to it.
“Villas need constant maintenance and I love that. I totally love caring for this house,” she says.
Robin and Ivano had three happy years living here together before his death in 2013 and eventually even he began to appreciate the house he would never have chosen for himself. “I remember one day he rang me and said ‘I understand what you see in this house now, I can see why you love it’. I really do thank him every day, that he was able to get over his reservations about it.”