Stunning situation, inspirational house
E2 He collects trains, she crafts glass and mirrors; he loves colour, she loves black and white; he loves where he lives, she is looking forward to moving: despite their differences Ian and Gloria Welch’s marriage has lasted more than 50 years. met them a
THE WELCHS’ Paremata home is a good size and spread over many levels, sufficient room for two vibrant individuals to pursue their personal passions.
Gloria is downstairs, in what both call the basement, where she crafts exquisite mosaic mirrors in her studio. The room is sizeable and packed with porcelain bits, glass, mirrors, anything she spots that might work as part of a mirror.
Upstairs, on another level and a world away is Ian’s area, the red room, the bar, where he and mates, all like-minded train lovers, share a few drinks and talk trains. It’s a space with walls lined with trains. Ian remembers he was two years old when his father gave him his first train, a Lionel (for the uninitiated, that’s an American model train set) and his love affair with trains was born.
He still has that train set, tucked away in a box in the garage, neatly stored alongside a host of other train parts, some model, some real. The trains, like the passion, have grown bigger, from that tiny toyset to the real deal, Mainline Steam, the heritage trust with a series of steam trains in Parnell, Plimmerton and Christchurch sidings.
The house is the hub for Gloria’s artwork, Ian’s business and the control centre for the train venture. And it’s a home with views over the Pauatahanui Inlet, which provides all the inspiration for this couple to pursue their interests so successfully.
“We can sit out on the deck and watch stingrays playing. They move in packs, in families often together. It’s like watching a ballet – you never get tired of them,” says Ian.
The home was built to the brief they gave Auckland architect Ian Burrow. They’d seen his design for a house they still refer to as the ‘‘ice- cream house’’ because of its coneshaped rounds and said simply to Burrow, ‘‘design us something similar’’.
“When we first saw the icecream house on paper we laughed like anything,” recalls Ian, “but then we began to realise we kept talking about it and realised we actually really liked the design. It appealed somehow.”
Burrow is known for his use of round shapes, something the Welchs liked after sleeping in an African mud rondavel in Zimbabwe.
“It had a nice feel. There’s just something about a round building and I get that same feeling in the round of our master bedroom.”
The Welch home is built on the edge of a cliff overlooking the inlet. Gloria says it’s a perfect site and few disagree. The house is like three round tents joined together.
“The children had all left home by the time we moved in, although over the years various ones have come and gone and grandchildren, too. So we needed room for extras, but it’s basically a master bedroom, ensuite and dressing room, a guest bedroom and ensuite, a studio, an office, big living room and dining area and kitchen with another dining area, plus the red room, with the television and bar.”
The steep site required plenty of engineering problem solving, but such challenges are Ian Welch’s bread and butter in business and he relished the opportunity to get involved.
“There are 100 railway irons under the house, driven down to solid rock in case of liquefaction. The railway irons give support to the whole build.”
The living-dining round room