Glamour and gumboots at a farmhouse renovation near Gisborne

This story is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

The first time Georgina Kemp accompanied her new boyfriend Jeremy to meet the Rere community, 40km northwest of Gisborne, she put on makeup and heels. She wanted to make a good impression at the “country club”. Little did she realise this local club was a shed and a barbecue next to a farm golf course.

Fast forward 15 years and Georgina, known as Georgie, has swapped gladrags for gumboots, she can tell charolais from simmental cattle, can drive a quad bike and knows all about the intricacies of the local weather. “I never thought I’d live in the country,” says the former city girl who was born and raised in Auckland and Wellington. But then she met Jeremy while they were both on their OEs in London and her thoughts changed.

The homestead the couple moved into in 2012 and now share with their children – Ophelia, 8, Digby, 7, and Beetham, 5 – has been in the Kemp family for nine decades. It’s the fulcrum of a 2500ha beef and sheep station, a double-bay, colonial-style dwelling typical of the early 1900s when it was built.

There were many small rooms, a forest of rimu panelling, and in winter the cold that seeped through the floorboards was toe-numbing. “We used to live solely in the kitchen and family room, with the rest of the house closed off,” recalls Georgie.

She had renovation ideas from day dot but it took a while to find the right solution. As life sped up, the children were born and Georgie immersed herself in community happenings while she worked in event management and marketing.

Before Jeremy’s parents, Susan and Gerald, moved out of the homestead, the couple had built closer to town which was where they met Sam Gavin from ABC Design. Over five years they plotted and sketched new room layouts that would coax the house with so much history into the future.

In recognising this project was growing bigger than Ben-Hur, a friend suggested Georgie get some help from an old friend – Janice Kumar-Ward of JKW Interior Architecture and Design. “Janice’s accountant advised her not to take on any more work so she met me for a quick catch up over lunch with plans to tell me she couldn’t help,” explains Georgie. But once the designer saw the property and the plans, she could not resist.

Sometimes when renovating, you must kill your darlings: Georgie and Jeremy finally recognised that a huge double-sided fireplace in the centre of the home was not going to work. “Once I came to a spot where we were happy to let it go, the rest just fell into place,” Georgie says.

They altered the floorplan, removing a couple of walls to create better flow. Then a sunroom with window seating was added alongside the kitchen, which pushed out the footprint slightly. For her part, Janice was keen for the decorative plans to reflect the essence of her client. “Georgie is glamorous; I wanted the house to touch on that, while still being relaxed.” The result is an aesthetic that’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll.

Colour cues were drawn from a vintage aerial photograph of the farm that now hangs in Jeremy’s new office – smoky greys, greens and blues which are mixed with clear, Hamptons-style tones of navy and yellow. As for pattern, Janice used an old Laura Ashley-esque design rule, employing a print, a stripe and a plaid to bring visual impact to almost every room.

For the most part, the timberwork has been painted white though there are exceptions. In the formal sitting room, the smoky blue paint scheme wraps up onto the ceiling where kauri beams were retained as a feature. The original fireplace mantelpiece was repurposed as a surround for a slimmed-down version, and his-and-hers cocktail bars either side are backed by mirrors that reflect light into the moody blue.

The ceiling landscape is integral to the complexity of this project. In the formal dining zone, Janice specified moulding that radiates out into star shapes echoing the geometry of a double brass pendant in the room.

Here, as elsewhere, existing furniture has been repurposed, with unexpected pairings crafting the magic. A turned-leg table spray-painted pale lemon is a delightful surprise teamed with rattan-backed chairs while in the breakfast zone, a classical lacquered table, once in the hall, mixes it up with bentwood chairs.

Although the Kemps invested in quality wallpaper and custom-made cabinetry, the budget wasn’t entirely high end. In the en suite, a blue tartan floor is an effect achieved with three inexpensive tiles. The guest wing has been left as is, complete with floral chintz curtains and a bathroom with a green pedestal art deco vanity and brass cabinetry handles from Etsy.

The house has become a vessel for family life and socialising with friends. “I never thought I’d live so remotely or have barefoot children,” says Georgie. “But this must be one of the best communities in New Zealand.”

Now when Jeremy says, “Everyone leaves Gisborne for a while, but they always come back”, she understands why.

Q&A with Georgie & Jeremy Kemp

Hardest part of the renovation: The finances! I think it has taken Jeremy three years to even start to get over it, but now we realise we were probably lucky as we were in before the materials went up in price. (Georgie)

Top tip for a major renovation: Move out. We converted the garage into a little home, using the old kitchen and moved in there for a year with three young kids. It was difficult but the work would have been impossible to live around. (Georgie)

Best room in the house: The den – a warm, comfortable room where the sun comes in and it’s lovely to relax in. We always hung out there when we were growing up and my dad loved it too. It’s the perfect dad’s room. (Jeremy)

Next on the to-do list: It’s time for the garden to get some love. Jeremy’s mother, Susan, kept a beautiful garden so we need to up our game. (Georgie)

A hidden secret of the area: We are lucky enough to have Eastwoodhill [the national arboretum], as our stunning neighbour – it was my playground as a child. It’s in my family’s blood as my grandparents helped to save it in the 1970s, so it’s lovely to pass the tradition to my children who spend hours there. (Jeremy)

What we’ve learnt about colour: It pays to be bold; it’s a point of interest for visitors and never feels boring. But it’s important to get some help to ensure you are pushed as far as you can go colour-wise. (Georgie)