100-year-old home in Marton gets major kitchen makeover
It’s not every day a designer gets asked to replace a kitchen that dates back to the ‘60s, but that’s when the last kitchen was built in The Petherton, an historic farmhouse in Marton.
Sophie McDougall-Wenn of Stella Design says The Petherton was built in 1908 for a farmer’s wife.
“It’s a grand rural estate, with beautiful gardens, a tennis court and orchard. In the ‘60s it suffered a devastating fire and was rebuilt. It had not been updated till now.”
“The existing kitchen had angled walls and a sloping ceiling. There was little practical storage, and not a lot of bench space. My client came to me three years ago with an image of a navy blue kitchen island from a magazine, and very few ideas of what she was wanting to create in the kitchen space. She gave me full creative licence.”
McDougall-Wenn says the kitchen was a reasonable size but was disconnected from the outdoors.
“The home has beautiful, large outdoor living areas, and knowing how much the owner loves entertaining, I knew creating a connectioni to the outside would work best.”
To achieve this, the designer flipped the kitchen layout. Bifold doors were installed in place of the old kitchen sink window. A doorway to the hallway was filled in, and the kitchen cabinets positioned along the back wall, with a walk-in pantry at one end. And a large island was positioned beside the new bifolds.
Shaker-profile cabinets lacquered in Resene Shark and Resene Quarter Black White are teamed with a polished Silestone Aries island benchtop. The rear bench is stainless steel, and the splashbacks feature Quantum tiles in Spirit White.
Cabinets in the pantry are Melamine in Arctic White, with Formica Velour benchtops in White Valencia.
McDougall-Wenn says the owner didn’t want a big scullery, nor did she want a traditional pantry cupboard. Rather she wanted somewhere she could have some of her small appliances out and also store all her food, with a door to close off the space from the kitchen.
“We went through many revisions,” she says. “It wasn’t until I found the Hafele Hawa telescopic doors that suddenly my vision for this area came together, and I was able to put the pantry and fridge sideby-side and keep everything within the kitchen triangle.”
The designer has also provided large drawers either side of the oven for easy access to pots and pans. And there are large landing spaces on either side of the hob. A pull-out spice cabinet ensures essential cooking condiments are close at hand.
“Country kitchens are known for their display storage , so I added an open unit on the end of island, and a beautiful reeded glass cabinet lit with LEDs, so the owner could display her beautiful trinkets.”
McDougall-Wenn also provided interior design services, including redoing the bathrooms.
• Designer: Sophie McDougall-Wenn, Stella Design, Marton
• Kitchen manufacturer: Tweakit Joinery Solutions, Palmerston North