I arrived in the South Island from Waiheke Island on 1 May 17, energised and ready to embrace a new property and rural lifestyle in Marlborough. I’d secured to rent, a pretty villa overlooking the marina in Picton whilst waiting for settlement of the Rowley property and it allowed me time to orientate myself in Blenheim. Planning was already happening in my head for the renovation and it was all systems go when I officially moved in on 3 August.
I got the gist that country town Blenheim was in fact a very busy little town and trades were hard to come by. The town has seen steady growth over the past 7 years with folk migrating from the cities at a great rate, especially from Christchurch since the earthquake. I went out to meet and greet and find out who’s who in town, narrowing down the ‘possibles’ of tradespeople who would do a great job and be easy to work with. The scouting included finding creative minds too….brand and web designer, photographer, furniture makers, upholsterer and other suppliers. I needed to build my team…..asap.
Parallel to seeking the right people, work began behind closed doors creating the interior scheme and colour palette plus several trips to the main cities to source product and seek inpiration for the new look homestead. Lighting was a major consideration and kind of took over my world for a while. Any old lighting wouldn’t do. It had to be beautiful quality and have an element of design and history about it. Yes, I’m passionate about lighting…I enjoy having options in a room – a light simply cannot just be on or off! As a result of this quest lighting has been sourced from far and wide and includes pieces from international designers; Kelly Wearstler, Aerin Lauder, Barbara Barry, Timothy Oulton, Ian Fowler as well as French vintage too.
By November decisions were made and the team was booked to start on 1 February. And so it began…. Bathrooms were gutted and started anew, rooms were painted with fresh colours, gorgeous handprinted wallpaper was laid in the hallway, new drapes, furniture and appliances were ordered and finally the styling – to find accessories and special pieces to complete the look and make it a home. Consideration was given too, as to how the Rowley Homestead brand would look on all platforms of media, plus writing copy for the website, directing photography….. The list went on.
By June it was a wrap. The trades were finished, photos sessions over, the website launched. I’ve had the most tremendous good fortune of working with an outstanding team of local tradesmen, furniture makers and creative minds – a collaboration that was seamless and stress free. I breathed out for a while then morphed into the next stage…..marketing.
Rowley Estate Homestead features in this month’s edition (Aug) of Wild Tomato magazine. Here’s the link for a read (pages 58-60) http://www.wildtomato.co.nz
