A modern farmhouse with European soul

This modern farmhouse in Hawke’s Bay is a retreat with a traditional leaning, a European flavour and an enchanting lightness of being.

The gentle sunbeams that bathe the rooms of this oceanside property in gold are redolent of a Dutch masters painting, which is fitting because owner Judith Markus traces her ancestry to The Netherlands. She has never felt more at home.

Endless summer holidays for almost 30 years drew Judith, who splits her time across both hemispheres, to build on a piece of land at Ocean Beach, Te Matua-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay that she bought without ever having set foot on it. “I was locked down in Europe and had a friend go look at it for me,” she explains.

Cover image: Weatherboards were painted Resene Latitude to match the Colorsteel roofing in Smokey.

A video introduction and a gut feeling was all it took to make the decision. Set on 3000sqm of a working station where they run sheep and cattle and breed some of the country’s best show jumpers, the house and guest quarters have a barn-like feel, with softly sloping gables and weatherboards that echo the classic rural vernacular. The colours of the two buildings work in harmony — the smoky blue/green of Judith’s dwelling is complemented by the palest-pink on the guesthouse, which mimics the colour of natural cedar. 

Judith trusts in the power of friendship to make her big life moves and she called on another, architectural and interior designer Brigit Christie, to craft a base for herself and her two New Zealand-born daughters, who now live in London. “I loved what Brigit had done with her own home design, and it was great that she took on this project,” she says.

The correct siting of the two buildings was a priority. Brigit visited the land at different times of year, at dawn through dusk, to understand the passage of the sun as it moved across the heaving ocean to settle on the undulating backdrop of hills.

Generous proportions and volumes within the main building make this a place to breathe deeply — a modern farmhouse that called out for the welcome of chunky, comfy furniture. The living zone is centred around a fireplace, where the weathered-steel surround stretches out to accommodate a TV secreted within it for evenings when Judith wants to catch up on her favourite shows. “The steel had to be left outside for two months to get rusty before we moved it in,” she explains.

To one side of the linen sofa, a pair of sheepskin chairs are like a hug from a woolly mammoth. “They are massive,” laughs Judith, who spotted a prototype at a local Havelock North store and had them custom designed. “They are made with New Zealand lambswool and are just so comfortable; something more delicate would have been lost in the space.”

Brigit used hues and textures that lend instant ease: colours of sand, stone and sunsets in crushed-linen drapes and taupe flax wallpapers that would allow her friend to feel cocooned, even when she was home alone. Not that Judith’s short of company: this peaceful retreat often rings with conversation, as local friends pop in, or those from farther afield come to stay. That’s when the well-thumbed Ottolenghi cookbooks come out and the kitchen — built around a ‘must-have’ range cooker — comes into its own. “Some people tried to talk me out of the range, saying the oven is so low, but I love them and wanted to cook on gas.”

V-groove cabinetry fronts painted Aalto Eton Cream team with beautifully low-key Pierre De Varennes benchtops, a stone also used on the bathroom vanities. “For me, it was important to have lovely basic things that were good quality, and to use solid materials such as stone and wood,” says Judith.

In the spirit of the farmhouse, there’s a butler’s sink and capacious pantry, but a playful twist is the draped black pendant above the island, made from leather. “It reminds me of the reins of a horse and is a reference to the equestrian farm.”

Although she bought many new items to fit the spaces, antiques inherited from her parents mix up the epochs. In the living room, an oak cabinet from the 1700s blends in with the contemporary pieces, while in Judith’s bedroom an oil still life of flowers, painted in the 1800s, perfectly corresponds with the rich palette. “When you stick with things you like, eventually it will all knit together,” she says.

Whereas in most new-builds the backdrop is celebrated centre stage, here it is a quiet presence experienced framed as vignettes from, for example, the dining table through slide-back doors, or the built-in windowseat that wraps around another dining and lounge alcove, and even the main bedroom, where multi-pane glazing offers a view of the sea.

The courtyard design was driven by the elevated sea-view site. A building platform was cut in for Judith’s house and Brigit positioned the guesthouse to create a T-shaped courtyard in between, providing shelter from the wind and sun but also luxurious privacy for the owner and her guests.