From the driveway the home of Janice and John Newell looks elegant with its schist stone and timber exterior. Tucked onto a central Rangiora section, the angular looking home has not a single window onto the street front. But looks can be deceptive. Step into the double width entry hall and the house opens out all around you – with its three bedrooms, two living rooms and large open plan kitchen dining area – it feels big.

When Michael and Brigitte Barker bought the Vicarage in Geraldine in 2017 – they knew that restoring a heritage building was a big undertaking. And they were under no illusion about their expertise in the area.

This is a love story. It’s a story about a man called Chris who set eyes on a woman named Julie many, many moons ago. At the time, he swore that he’d met the girl of his dreams. But the timing wasn’t right. Thirty years passed before the two met again by chance and, then and there amongst the chip packets and ice cream cones of a corner dairy, Chris declared his intention to marry Julie and whisk her away to Paris for their honeymoon. And that’s exactly what he did.

When Selese Rowe and her partner, Michael, first spotted their two-storey house in Timaru – it was the bedrooms that were the deciding factor. Bringing together a blended family  – space was essential. But the location was a close runner up – near to school, the beach and the supermarket.

For many embarking on renovating an old home – there are a lot of unknowns. But for Martin and Anne Stewart who took on a church conversion in Totara Valley – there were also some daunting knowns – like earthquake damage, no running water and the very considerable challenge of transforming the church into a residential building.

Heritage homes are a little slice of history – yet all too often they’re neglected and destroyed for short-sighted financial gain. That’s probably why there aren’t that many of them around and it makes the sight of a perfectly preserved cottage in Kaiapoi even more striking. The Williams Street cottage has category 1 Heritage listing and continues in use as a private residence to this day.

When Karin and Dale Mackay moved into their two-storey, four-bedroom house in Fernside in 2021 – it was showing its age. The mint green exterior hadn’t aged well whilst inside there were pink bathroom suites and a blue laundry. The single glazed doors and windows were old and draughty and the lack of any insulation meant it was pretty cold.

As business origin stories go, Tracy and Joachim van Oostrum the couple behind LOVE IN A JEWEL, have a pretty good one. Long before they started their keepsake jewellery design business it was jewellery that brought them together.

When Rebecca Smith first moved into her two-storey, brick house in Timaru 10 years ago, it was “one blank and beige canvas to stamp my mark on.” Embracing her love of all things retro she soon transformed it into a swirling carnival of colours, patterns and textures.

On a late summer morning looking out over a garden with rambling roses, vigorous vines and established trees – it’s hard to imagine that seven years ago this was a bare paddock. But that’s exactly what it was says homeowner Sue Heazlewood.