— Excerpt from Everyday Opulence: Homes, Gardens, Interiors Inspired by Aotearoa – designed by Michael Mansvelt
My favourite type of work is designing large gardens. There is so much freedom to play with scale and, in an increasingly urbanised world, it is rare to not have to worry about trees growing too big for the space. However, I do feel an immense responsibility with these larger spaces. Plants should have longevity and a timeless aesthetic as many large, estate-like properties endure for longer than your average home. It is vital to plant things well so the garden can be enjoyed by the generations that follow.
Bryce and Delwyn’s 5 acre property had been planted 10 or so years prior to my first visit with some choice trees and borders. But with additional plans to build a swimming pool, I was called in to work on an undeveloped area as part of a significant extension to the home. The couple had recently returned from a wonderful island family holiday and were hoping to evoke the look and feel of a tropical resort for the new pool and outdoor living area.
The site was fairly sheltered and the new, heavily-glassed kitchen and living area looked directly onto the new space I was to work with. The outdoor space was crammed at the back of the property, right by the boundary line. So, the first consideration was to hide any sign of the commercial nursery that bordered what would be the new courtyard. We built raised planters for some depth and height to help with screening, which could double as seating. I selected Bambusa ‘Alphonse Karr’ as the screening plant, which is a non-invasive bamboo prized for its variegated stems.
For a focal point, I designed a large outdoor fireplace with storage for firewood, because no matter how warm the New Zealand summers get, the evenings are seldom balmy. There was a giant Canary Island date palm in the middle of the space that we wanted to retain, and this made a lovely demarcation point between the two outdoor spaces. I decided that a large moat-like fishpond would be a great way to bring more life and movement into the space — nothing says resort like an abundant pond teeming with fish. Ponds are also incredibly important for creating an ecosystem in the garden, attracting beneficial insects and bird life.
A prized wedding palm (Lytocaryum weddelwam) is thriving in the light and bright kitchen extension — this space is a gateway to the pool and garden. Throughout the house, botanical fabrics and tapestries reflect the rich subtropical foliage outside.
Around the time I was designing the Barnetts’ new outdoor space, I was also asked to create a display for one of the major sponsors of the Ellerslie International Flower Show. The display featured a variety of tropical plants, and the Barnetts graciously agreed to purchase the plants once the flower show had concluded. It was a win-win for all, and gave those plants a permanent home to thrive in.
Aged Kentia palms formed an avenue in the Barnetts’ garden, leading into the new outdoor space. I love using avenues of trees to create a sense of arrival, and an avenue of palms is especially inviting and exotic. To evoke a lush, exuberant feel, several plants were repeated throughout the garden, including variegated alpinia, Birds of Paradise, bromelias, philodendrons, gardenias and a variety of other palms and cycads.
My experience in Australia as a designer using Sydney sandstone, has convinced me that nothing says luxe resort more than natural stone paving, so several hundred square metres of Indian sandstone were laid in the outdoor area.
It was such a treat to plant with instant results, and 15 years on the plantings have only improved with time. The new pool area was the first planting on the property that aligned parallel with the home, but Bryce and Delwyn soon decided that this new way of mixing lush foliage and flowers with formality and structure was a theme they wanted to continue throughout the rest of the garden.
The view from the living room over the lawns and established gardens. By keeping the plantings simple in the beds closest to the window, the eye is led to enjoy the myriad different textures and plantings in the landscape beyond.
The walkway from the house to the old potting shed has been lined with an avenue of sky duster palms (Washingtonia robusta). These palms compete with kahikatea, California redwoods and Norfolk Island pine trees to be the tallest trees on this large estate. The shed was re-clad in board and batten in complementary colours so that it would blend in with the garden and surrounding structures.
Around two years later, a new project came my way on the same property in the form of a more structured and stylised entrance garden. As we worked our way around the property, I always referred back to the physical alignment of the house as a reference point so that the house and garden morphed as seamlessly as possible. The 1960s colonial brick home had been modernised and plastered in the late 1990s, so we introduced plastered masonry walls throughout the garden to relate it back to the house. I love the feeling of longevity that masonry, brick and stone provides to a garden.
Eventually, I was asked for ideas for the inside of the home and any thoughts I had on other homes the family owned. My relationship with the Barnetts has become the most significant in my career to date. I really enjoy the way we work together with quick decision making, fluid communication and an enthusiasm for beauty, fun and design. Family fun is high on the Barnetts’ priority list, and there is so much to see and do within the estate. Archery, tennis, go karts, volleyball, croquet and so much more.
It is vital to plant things well so the garden can be enjoyed by the generations that follow.
As time has gone by, neighbouring land has been procured by them and we have developed further gardens and buildings. One of the old glasshouses and potting sheds from the property’s nursery days needed to be converted into a garage for their ever-expanding classic car collection. I have always loved American design and the colonial Cape Cod architecture of the home lent itself to stable-like buildings in that genre. The natural cedar and earthy brown board-and-batten cladding have taken the Cape Cod equestrian feel down a notch or two so as not to look out of place here on the other side of the world in the dairy province.
Aotearoa has a temperate climate, and that, combined with our horticultural heritage of plant breeders and collectors, has led to a rich array of plants that flourish in our landscape. This means I can grow just about anything here as it all feels like home to us.
I have been able to create different moods in different areas of the same garden. Deciduous woodlands teeming with spring blossoms, flowering bulbs that transform to an autumn kaleidoscope of colour, summer rose gardens, winter floral shows of camellia and magnolia, and subtropical spaces that are evergreen with a plethora of blooms that flower throughout the year.
I have used many of our native trees, ferns, mosses, grasses and shrubs in every part of the Barnetts’ estate to ground the property in the local landscape. As a result of the native plantings, they are beginning to see the return of many native birds and insects into their garden.
Inside their home is a beautiful and serious modernist kitchen designed by internationally acclaimed design company Glen Johns Kitchens. It is the real heart of the home but other than this, the home was relatively devoid of details or character. We panelled the entry foyer in traditional Georgian moulding, then went through the home room by room with colonial moulding to give the impression it had existed in the landscape for a long time. These small details have contributed so much to the sense of opulence and style.
There are many references indoors to the abundance of life outside. Botanical fabrics mimic plant forms just outside the window, and texture and pattern can be seen both inside and out. Largely, however, we kept the design fairly neutral, liveable and simple.
As the large family have grown and teenagers’ needs have given way to grandchildren’s needs, the owners’ lust for life and their love of people have made this home a true sanctuary for everyone who enters its gates. The formal feel has softened with time and there is an overwhelming feeling of being welcomed. As one of the Barnetts’ children said, ‘Why would I pay to take my family to a resort? I’ll just go back home to Mum and Dad’s for a spell. There’s more to do there, the accommodation is world class and it’s free.’
Everyday Opulence: Homes, Gardens, Interiors Inspired by Aotearoa – designed by Michael Mansvelt
Foreword by Reuben Paterson, Photography by Gina Fabish, published by Bateman Books, RRP $69.99, release date October 2024.
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