HISTORYREPEATS
TheHaddensarenotthefirsttoraisea family
atMeadowood.Thepropertyhashadjust
fourownerssinceit wasbuiltin 1934 asa
replacementforthefarmhomesteaddamaged
bythe 1931 Napierearthquake.Thehousewas
builtinstagesona barepaddock,whilethe
ownersmadedoina tent.Theyalsoplantedthe
standoftreeswhichnowsurroundsthehome.
ColinandEmma,withbabyRossandfour-
year-oldIvy,liveina smalltwo-bedroomcottage
behindMeadowood,whichthey’lleventually
replacewitha largerhome.It wasa tight
squeezemovingfroma five-bedroomhouse,so
a lotofthecouple’sfurnitureandartwork has
founda placeinsidethemainhouse.
Withnohospitalityexperience,thepairhave
hadtogetusedtohostingguests,although
EmmahadworkedinPRandcommunications
previously.“Pullingeventstogetherandlooking
afterguestsis notdissimilartoPR,”shesays.
“Andwestillhavea lotofprivacy around our
cottagesoit worksfine.”
Ivyadoresit,too– shehasanamazinggarden
toplayinandinterestingpeopletomeet.Often
Emmawilldiscoverherdaughterhasalready
shownguestsaroundbeforeshecangettothem,
andloveshowathomeshefeels.“I liketothink
bothmykidswillgrowuphere,”shesays.
A foldercontainingcontributionsfromthe
house’spreviousownersincludesdetailsof
pipeslaidandplantsgrown,andtheoriginal
owners’grandchildrenvisitedrecently.The
remainsoftheirgrandmother’skilnarestill
inthegarden– justa pileofredbricks– and
Emmaoftenfindspiecesofhomemadepottery
inthegarden.“Whenwedoeventuallybuild,I
wanttoincorporate that red brick into a feature
wall,”shesays.
Thefamilyadorethesenseofhistorythat
surroundstheirhome.“Wehonestlyfeellike
wearecustodiansofthispropertyandallits
history.Weabsolutelyloveit andwe’regoingto
lookafterit foraslongaswecan.We truly feel
that Meadowood found us.”•
RAZZLEDAZZLEGold
andturquoisewallpaper
(‘Deco’byHarlequin)with
matchingcushions
channel1930sglamourin
theFred& Gingerroom,
whilechromeandplush
fabrics(anda barcart,of
course)createa boudoir
fitforMaeWest.Fittingly,
theplatinumvamp’s
wallpaperis Bradbury&
Bradbury’s‘Havana’ in
platinum.
yhg| 71H