PERFECT INSPIRATION
This charming villa has proved an ideal creative space for its talented owners, writes DONNA FLEMING
There’s a plaque on the house next door to Pamela and Richard Wolfe’s Freemans Bay home that commemorates the fact that acclaimed Victorian landscape artist Charles Blomfield — who painted the Pink and White Terraces — once lived there.
By rights, there should also be a plaque on the Wolfe home, marking the fact that this has been the long-time dwelling of two other very talented individuals who’ve made a huge contribution to New Zealand arts and culture — Pamela as a painter and illustrator and Richard as an author.
Suggest this to the couple and they are far too modest to agree. But they do concede that the creative output from the turn-of-the-century villa in the
37 years they’ve lived there has been somewhat substantial.
Richard has written 40 books and hundreds of articles, while Pamela has produced hundreds of paintings. Together, they have collaborated on a series of children’s books.
As well accommodating and inspiring the pair’s endeavours, the character-filled house has also been a great place to raise their daughter Emily, who now lives in the UK. Richard and Pamela bought the house back in 1983, and when they went to view it, realised they’d actually been to a party there in the
1970s.
“I remember that it was very dark, with Victorian-style wallpaper,” recalls Pamela.
One of the things the Wolfes did after buying the home was paint many of the walls white or soft grey, which not only lightened the house considerably, but provided the ideal background to display their extensive collection of art, much of which is their own work (Richard and Emily also paint).
Treasures that have been collected over the years are also on display. Richard, who for many years was the curator of displays at Auckland Museum, is a fan of vintage packaging, and the items he’s gathered over the years are shown off in cabinets in the home’s entrance. Lined in original tongue and groove, this part of the house was once the servants’ quarters.
Like several of its neighbours in this stretch of Wood St, the house is positioned back-tofront, so the traditional villa porch and bay window face the garden rather than the street.
This about-face means the master bedroom and a spacious room that Richard uses as his office enjoy views of the garden and the city. The outlook over the cityscape and harbour is even more spectacular from a top floor studio that was built into the roof space in the 1990s.
It’s the perfect place for Pamela to work on her vibrant floral paintings as it is very light and bright thanks to a wall of glass that opens onto a balcony.
Meanwhile, the basement was dug out and converted into a workshop where at one stage Richard would screen print some of Pamela’s work. They also knocked out a wall between a bedroom and the kitchen/dining room to create a cosy living space. But while they have made changes to suit their lifestyle, they have also carefully preserved the beautiful heritage features of the home, including several original fireplaces, sash windows and kauri floors.
“One of the things we loved about it was that it hadn’t been mucked around with too much,” says Pamela. “We really love the character.”
There is scope to use the house differently to the way the Wolfes have it — for example, the studio could be converted into a bedroom and office or a living room, and a small bedroom next to the main bedroom could be transformed into an en suite. Richard’s office would also make a great bedroom or living room.
Pamela is a passionate gardener who turned the garden into a peaceful sanctuary that has inspired many of her paintings.
The couple enjoy being able to stroll to Ponsonby Rd or into the city; Richard even used to walk to work at the museum. They’d like to stay in the area, but the house is too big for them now.
Sale: Auction August 26
Contact: Angela Saunders, Ray White, 021 448 900; Pamela Grant, 021 735 537