Villa, from Heritage to Contemporary

The villa, for those who don’t know, is New Zealand’s most distinctive housing type and was originally built using wood from our great native forests.
Photography by Patrick Reynolds Stroking the gorgeous, satiny cover of this book immediately brought back memories of my childhood. Having grown up in villas, before villas were the cool, coveted possession they are now, this book is a treasure. I grew up in Ponsonby and St Mary’s Bay in Auckland back in the late 70’s...back then Ponsonby wasn’t even cool. My, how times have changed.
I recall one such villa, situated on St Mary’s Rd. It was red. And big. And draughty. And I’m fairly sure there was a hole in the roof which Dad fixed with a bit of good old Kiwi DIY. A walk up the road to the “shops” would reveal a Pennylane’s bakery, a KFC [in fact, the very same KFC that’s still there today, exact same spot], a mini-supermarket and a handful of other little shops.
We moved further down the road after that little house, not into a villa mind, but it seemed every other house on the street was a villa. They hold such sentimental value for me, and I covet one for myself. However they really are out of my reach. If I remember correctly, the old red villa on St Mary’s Road was $18,000 when my family purchased it. Add a couple of zeros on to the end of that, and that’s today’s market. Driving past it now, the current owner has transformed it so much, in fact to the extend I hardly recognise it and it certainly doesn’t even look like a traditional villa anymore. Personally, I prefer villas in their original look. That is how they were built to be.

My parents still live in a villa today. Not the same one however, into something with a sea view and no holes in the roof! My step-father loving created the fretwork and embellishments himself, by hand. To me the fretwork is the cherry on the top, the icing on the cake and transforms a villa from ordinary to extraordinary.
This book has many stunning examples of such work, and explains how different styles emerged across cities and towns, and different builders and their own hallmarks. Each finishing touch to a villa has its own style, meaning and history. Stained glass or coloured glass, was considered a luxury item, and reserved for windows in the best rooms, front doors and stairways. But I don’t want to give the game away...trust me, sitting down with a cup of coffee and this book on your lap, will be worth your while.
Villa, takes the reader on a glorious journey throughout the country.

Even if you have never lived in, or owned a villa, this book is a piece of New Zealand history.

Lovers of villas will want to hunt this book down – a must have coffee table book. You will pour for hours over the amazing photography and hard to put down text. Enjoy.