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High arches and mid-century style furniture bring about the glamorous feel of 1920s Hollywood. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
The master bedroom is painted in Resene Half Rice Cake. Stacey and Michael kept the original colour of the ceiling – get the look with Resene Kumutoto.
Moroccan screens and tiling as design motifs are echoed throughout the house, and the bathroom is no exception. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
This little reading area that looks out to the pool is painted in Resene Half Rice Cake, and looks like a great place to escape for a couple of hours.
Stacy brings old Hollywood to the suburbs
The Garden of Alla (later The Garden of Allah Hotel) is Hollywood glamour at its best. An enclave of Spanish Mission Villas developed in the 1920s, it's where stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Orson Welles and F. Scott Fitzgerald gathered for a good time.
And it was the source of inspiration for this glamorous residence in Auckland's Westmere, the home of best-selling author Stacy Gregg, her partner Michael Lamb and their daughter Isadora. With high arches, Morrocan screens and a front room doused in biscuity pink Resene Wafer, it exudes style and sophistication.
The house was built in the 1930s in the Spanish Mission style. In 2016, Stacey and Michael built an extension that doubled its footprint, making sure the design was an authentic, seamless add-on to the look.
Stacy tells us more about her Hollywood-inspired home:
What Resene colours and products have you used?
We’ve used Resene Rockcote on the exterior for the stucco plaster, then painted in Resene Quarter Rice Cake. We also used the Rockcote natural plaster system to do the Spanish roughcast plaster in the breezeway that connects to the master bedroom by the pool. The walls throughout the interior are Resene Half Rice Cake, except for the front room painted in Resene Wafer.
How did you decide on the overall look of the interiors?
We used a lot of texture rather than colour – like the Patricia Urquiola tiles in tone-on-tone taupe and grey, and the floors which are dark stained oak parquet. There’s a lot to take in, but none of it is loud or dominating. The Spanish touches, such as the arches and the Moroccan screens, meant that white was an easy decision for walls when it came to colour.
What part of the house are you most happy with?
I like the seating nook next to the lightwell garden – the floor-to-ceiling windows here really work to bring in the garden and the light.
What is your advice for someone trying to achieve a similar look?
Don’t be afraid of arches – curves can seem high camp but there’s something really beautiful about their proportions if they are done right.
What was the biggest decorating, renovating or building challenge for this project?
Finding the artisans and the materials to make it genuine. We had some amazing people working on the plastering, tiling and the German underfloor heating system – I was blown away by their skills.
Do you have a favourite colour, and if so why is it your favourite?
Resene Wafer in the living room – it’s a very vintage pink. It is so subtle and pretty and it works with so many other colours.
Is there anyone else you would like mentioned?
We had a lot of advice on the design from our friend, architect Juan Molina. Moloneys did an amazing job on the plaster finish – that exterior textured plaster was all done by hand in about two hours flat and it was incredible to watch the plasterer who was a master of the dying art of hand-flicking. Igor who handlaid the individual boards of our parquet floors was incredibly skilled, as was Piotrek who did all our tiling, including the white freestanding cabinet that divides the living room and dining room. It was a very complex job and he did it beautifully.
Stacy and Michael’s house was on the market at the time of writing and has since sold.
Published: 31 Jan 2017
Do you have a home full of wonderful Resene paint and colour? Send us some snaps by emailing editor@habitatbyresene.co.nz.
The front room is painted in Resene Wafer, Stacey's favourite colour. The trims are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
The dining room is simple, welcoming and tastefully styled. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
High arches and mid-century style furniture bring about the glamorous feel of 1920s Hollywood. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
The kitchen is neat and functional, with dark stained oak parquet underfoot. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
There's a seamless flow around the Spanish Mission style home, painted mostly in Resene Half Rice Cake.
The master bedroom is painted in Resene Half Rice Cake. Stacey and Michael kept the original colour of the ceiling – get the look with Resene Kumutoto.
Moroccan screens and tiling as design motifs are echoed throughout the house, and the bathroom is no exception. The walls are painted in Resene Half Rice Cake.
This little reading area that looks out to the pool is painted in Resene Half Rice Cake, and looks like a great place to escape for a couple of hours.
A glimpse of Moroccan screens make this serene outdoor area extra special. The exterior is painted in Resene Quarter Rice Cake.
Resene Rockcote was applied to the exterior for the stucco plaster. It was then painted in Resene Quarter Rice Cake.
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