House Style with Andrea Harradine
After showing us around her hillside house in Auckland, Andrea Harradine shares her house style.
You’re happiest at home when…
The sun is streaming in, all the windows and doors are open and the stereo is blasting.
How would you describe the interiors of your house?
The house features quite a lot of different materials throughout and because it has so much glass, there actually aren’t that many walls. It also came with quite a lot built in, like the kitchen bench that doubles as a casual dining table, so our interior additions are quite minimal really.
I would
say our interior is just very us, we have never attempted to style or
theme our home and it just morphs and changes as we do. It’s comfortable,
un-fussy and scattered with pieces we have both made and accumulated over the
years. In a funny way I think we are still figuring out what we want our
interior to be and probably only just coming to terms with that fact that we
have the opportunity to dictate the aesthetics of our space without the
influence of adolescents, now that our children are fully grown.
If you could only save one thing, what would it be?
I would save the piano. Music is my true love. I have had it almost as long as I have had children and it also lived with my mother who has now passed, before making its way back to me. Todd would probably save his fishing rods.
What was the last thing you bought for the house?
Light shades for above the kitchen island from our collaborators and friends at Monmouth Glass. They are hand blown, subtly irregular and diffuse light beautifully.
Top three coffee table books?
Charles Zana: The Art of Interiors; anything from the Rock the Shack series and Ottolenghi’s Nopi.
If money was no object, what changes would you make?
We would remodel the kitchen, it definitely needs better storage. We would probably put another storey on top – the master bedroom naturally; it would have truly incredible views. We would probably also put a second self-contained dwelling somewhere else and if money really was no object we may as well put in a pool too; Todd has his heart set on a container one.
You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
Todd is the chef in our house. Food alongside fishing, biking and a myriad of other extracurricular activities is his passion. His repertoire is pretty extensive and by no means limited to any genre or style. His go-to would always be something with fresh fish when possible (which thanks to his skills is often) – perhaps a Thai style curry or baked dish with Japanese flavours.
What does a Sunday here looks like?
At the moment we are in lockdown so it’s quieter than normal but usually a lazy morning in bed reading and listening to the birds, followed by some gardening or taking the dogs for a walk on our local west coast beach, topped off with a classic roast by our in-house chef.
What are the best things about the neighbourhood?
The rough, wild and beautiful Te Henga Bethells beach and the many local bush walks. The constant quiet also has to be a major perk.
How long will you be here for?
We have no plans to leave although we do want to build our own home one day. But we do feel that this house and especially its outlook is so iconic that even if we weren’t to live here, we would probably want to find a way to keep it in the family.
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