Photography: Babiche Martens
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Meet and greet: Kirsten (publishing) and Stephen Penny (former art director, now artist) and Nigel the Havanese.
The property: 1950s two-bedroom bach and sleepout, Point Wells, an hour north of Auckland.
If you were to conjure up the image of the quintessential Kiwi bach, chances are it would look something like this one in Point Wells, which is an hour north of Auckland. It ticks all the mandatory boxes: dreamy pastel exterior, floorboards crafted from native wood, a sleepout next to the main house and vintage decor dotted throughout every room. It embodies the warm seaside nostalgia that New Zealanders yearn for in the height of summer.
Kirsten, who works in publishing, and Stephen Penny, who retired from advertising and now works as an artist, have owned the 1950s bach for three years. Friends introduced them to the area years ago. “We rented places nearby over summers until we found this house to buy.”
Their first impression of the property was a bit of a mixed bag. Stephen says, “It was a great little house but the garden was really overgrown. I’ve taken out more than 30 cubic metres in skips. There was everything from broken old garden furniture to privet and non-native plants.”
Once the keys were in their hands, they started to resurrect the crucial bits. “One of the first things we did was get power to the sleepout. We also insulated it and lined it with ply,” says Stephen. “In the house, we took out a wall that divided the second bedroom. Someone had painted the floorboards – we think they’re tawa – white, so we got professionals in to sand, and then oil them.”
It helped that Stephen has a lot of DIY experience. “When I was a student, I painted houses in the holidays, and I feel like I’ve been painting ever since.” He painted every room in the house, including all the windows, and installed fittings and closures.
The couple made sure to keep some of the classic quirks of bach life, though. Kirsten adores the fixtures that take them back to another era. “I love how the house had so many things I rate as being important for a bach. It has perfect spots for reading and napping, a lemon tree, a rotary clothesline and my favourite thing, an airing cupboard – a hot-water cupboard with slatted shelves. I know they’re out of style because they’re not energy efficient, but having one means you don’t need a dryer. Anything damp off the line goes into the airing cupboard. I’m going to start a campaign to bring them back.”
Pretty in pink
The candy-coloured exterior paint job was what really made the bach feel like theirs. “The last owners painted it black, but it wasn’t in good repair. I was very keen to honour the ‘classic Kiwi bach’ look so we looked for the colours you might have seen in a beach settlement in the ’50s,” says Kirsten.
They settled on a Karen Walker colour in Resene Blanched Pink. “I love how her colours look lived in straight away. Most people seem to like it, though one woman walking past asked what colour was going on top of the undercoat.” They painted the sleepout pink, but they went with yellow for the garage.
Decked out
Kirsten and Stephen had been planning for the bach longer than they had owned it and had almost entirely furnished it before they even took ownership. “We’d been planning to buy a bach for a while, so I’d been holding on to a few things, like an old Norman & Quaine couch,” Kirsten says.
A vintage Indian cabinet was one of the only items they bought for the bach. Everything else they already had. “The dining table came with us from Sydney, and finally we had a wall long enough for our bookcase.”
They love the way it’s turned out. Artworks from family members hang on the walls as though they were always meant to be there, perched just above furniture designed for easy living. “We don’t really like things that look too new. We prefer lived-in and pieces with history,” says Kirsten.
Living lightly
One of their favourite parts of the bach is the lifestyle that comes with it. It’s vastly different from the city life Kirsten and Stephen have become used to. The bach is surrounded by birdlife, there are weekly farmers’ markets with incredible local produce and good spots for quick swims mere minutes away. “We really love the village feel. We have great neighbours who live here full time and there’s a strong sense of community,” says Stephen.
The short commute (by Auckland standards) from their urban lives makes it incredibly tempting to escape as much as their schedules allow. They always bring Nigel, their Havanese dog. “We are there most weekends and Stephen spends a lot of time there during the week working on his artwork in the garage, which doubles as his studio.”
While they visit in all seasons, there’s a particular magic about the routine that comes with staying over summer. “In summer, we swim most days. I surf whenever I can and we spend a lot of time on the back deck, barbecuing or catching up with friends who live locally,” says Stephen.
There’s still more that they want to do. They want to add raised veggie beds and an outdoor shower, as well as put plants back in now that they’ve cleared the garden down to its bones. “The soil here is peat, which is amazing and particularly good for citrus,” says Kirsten.
This idyllic lifestyle isn’t just attractive to the couple but also to visitors keen to experience a slice of bach life for themselves. One Christmas they had 13 people staying. There were people in every bed and some even pitched tents on the lawn. “These old baches just seem to swell to accommodate everyone,” says Kirsten.
Shop Kirsten and Stephen’s Point Wells bach style
See more images of the Point Wells bach below
Kirsten’s nan crocheted the wool throw rugs and the vintage blue and white patchwork quilt is from the US. “We had to buy a bach so Kirsten could use all her collected vintage linen and rugs,” says Stephen.
Kirsten and Stephen bought the tivaevae bedspread in Sydney.
It was serendipitous how well the couple’s pre-bought furniture pieces worked in the bach. As well as their indoor furniture, they also had two Adirondack chairs. Those now sit on their back deck and provide the “perfect spot for coffee”.
Read this next:
- Some of the most inspiring baches on Your Home and Garden
- Scandi-style Christmas decorating works a treat in this Mt Eden home
- A grand Oamaru villa is restored to balance work and family life
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