Photography: Babiche Martens
Alice Pearson loves her backyard. It would be impossible not to – the sprawling rural property in Auckland’s Hatfields Beach is a sun-soaked paradise. With two dwellings on the land, it’s the perfect spot for three generations to live within cooee of each other.
The main house is home to Alice, her husband Caleb and their four children, Alek, 10, Mika, eight, Blake, four, and Brooke, three. Just a short stroll up the driveway is the minor dwelling that belongs to Alice’s parents, Brian and Shona Goldsbury. Previous owners wouldn’t even recognise the space, which underwent a drastic renovation led by Alice and Caleb.
The Pearsons are no strangers to renovation. Having won The Block NZ in 2013, they spent the following decade transforming properties and sharing their renovation tips with an eager online audience. They welcome a project with a challenge.
“When we approach renos, we are quite cost-effective in our approach and try to embrace the house we already have,” says Alice. “Because it’s a minor dwelling, you don’t want to pour a whole lot of costs in. It only has a certain amount of value.”
This was the Goldsburys’ retirement plan, so there were nerves going into it. But with Alice and Caleb’s expertise, they took on the project, lovingly dubbed The Parental Pad’ and created an entirely new space in five months.
The size of Brian and Shona’s new home was unlike anything the couple had previously lived in.
“They went from a three-bedroom home to 60sqm,” explains Alice. “It was a bit of an adjustment to accept that this is a small house, but they eventually came around to the benefits of small living.”
Once they’d lived there for eight months, they started to work on the renovation plan. Shona had her heart set on a green kitchen.
“She was adamant,” grins Alice. “So we went really bold and embraced it. Because they selected it early in the process, it served as the base for the rest of the house.”
Alice and Caleb used Resene Elderflower on the kitchen walls, with Resene Quarter Alabaster for the trims. They then found the perfect wallpaper from Resene’s Summer Wallpaper Collection to complement the colour scheme.
“The green in the leaves of the wallpaper in the main bedroom matches quite closely with the green in the kitchen,” says Alice.
“The desk in the study is a deeper terracotta that matches the wallpaper. I tried to create these little connections in each space with the colour.”
The idea of having white walls to make the space look bigger just wasn’t what they wanted. Instead, they enjoyed the vibrancy and the energy every choice created.
“Because we went so bold, you actually just had to embrace it on every wall,” says Alice.
They ended up painting the white wall in the living room with Resene Calico.
The last thing on their list was the outdoor deck and it completely changed the feeling of the house.
“The outdoors adds so much value to the way we live, but it’s often like, ‘Oh, we have to do the indoors first’. We knew that if we wanted to claim any extra living room, it would be for the outdoors.”
A full outdoor kitchen was installed, as well as a permanent cover to allow for enjoyment all year round. Alice gushes about the way the area has upgraded Brian and Shona’s everyday life.
“For them, it’s opened up this whole world of being able to entertain, even though they’ve got a small house. And when you live where we live, you do want to be outside all the time.”
It’s become the ideal living situation for everyone in the family’s little community.
“The kids absolutely love it,” enthuses Alice. “They walk up the driveway and my parents are there.”
