A Home Of Good Stock
“If you have good stock, you can’t go wrong”. This was the advice given to Bernie and Gwenyth Wilson when they decided to create their beautiful Goodstock Gardens Nursery in Pleasant Point. It could equally apply to their stylish colonial-style home.
Words: Gilly Oppenheim Images: Essence Magazine
Built in 1977 by Roger Gale the house has a Structex design with wooden framing, roughcast plastering and a black concrete tile roof. Inside Gwenyth’s father worked on the joinery, putting in countless hours to create detailed mouldings in this classic and elegant home.
A rose-bedecked verandah opens out onto the immaculate garden and visitors can walk through French windows into the living room. One of the spaces Bernie and Gwenyth use the most in their home, there’s a particularly calm and restful feel to this room. Soft butter yellow walls and duck-egg blue leather lounge suite are warm and welcoming. Mirrors, tasteful table lamps and treasured ornaments draw the eye. There are Willow Tree ornaments – a gift from their daughter Andrea and several lovely Lladró figurines.
Many of the pieces in this home were bought on overseas travels – from the Venetian glass to the ornamental elephant from Phuket, and all have some memory or meaning. The Lladró nuns were bought on a trip to Rarotonga, says Gwenyth. The couple had hired a motorbike and managed to get the precious porcelain figurines back to their hotel in one piece – stuffed between them on the motorbike.
The heart of the house is the blue and white kitchen. Here there are country style cabinets in pristine white and chandelier lighting that sit seamlessly beside a blue Smeg fridge. Extensive white shelving displays an impressive collection of blue and white china. Gwenyth started her collection with the English Ridgway china that she bought in a dedicated china shop, Porters, that used to be in Timaru. The collection has grown from there and now includes Burleigh pottery. But these are not plates for decoration – “we use it all, all the time,” says Gwenyth.
An elegant formal downstairs lounge turns to subtle sage striped wallpaper, a pale green carpet and a fireplace. The lounge suite and curtains are both timeless quality Sanderson fabrics. An antique dining table, sideboard and lace web chairs add to the traditional tone here. And the room offers a view of the flowering cherry trees and pink camellias which come into blossom each year in time for Bernie’s birthday.
Art works line the walls here from a stunning pair of paintings of Mt Egmont to works by local artists such as Wayne Patrick and Heather Hill. “We really like birds,” says Gwenyth. “Wayne Patrick is particularly good at birds.”
Upstairs a rogues’ gallery in the hallway features family portraits and mementoes. There is a children’s bedroom - a fun-filled delight, with Beatrix Potter books and ornaments. The master bedroom offers tranquil elegance with an original sage green Sanderson wallpaper featuring doves and squirrels.
Every piece in this house has been carefully chosen and has a story to tell, be it a memory from various travels or a family gift or heirloom. The colours, tones and furnishings come together with a timeless elegance. It’s a reflection of Gwenyth’s love of the French Provincial style and European influences.
“If I was starting from scratch I’d do it all in French Provincial style. I love it and it doesn’t show the dust,” says Gwenyth with a laugh.