A Gracious Auckland Villa In St Marys Bay - Part Two

If you missed my previous post featuring Mary Gordon's St Mary's Bay home, you might want to pop over and read all about her beautiful home, the story behind it and see more images before you continue this post. There were so many lovely images of Mary's home, I decided to write the post in two parts, this being part two.

Upstairs, in her St Mary's Bay Villa, Mary has created a luxurious master bedroom and en-suite. Porters 'French Grey' paint on the walls sets a relaxing mood. Mary had the large, beautifully carved, 20th Century French bed, sent back from France. This beautiful bed is definitely a statement piece, I love the luxurious, French Grey, silk eiderdown across the foot of the bed. It is the way Mary has introduced sumptuous fabrics in this bedroom that make it look so wonderful. 

I love how Mary has used large lamps either side the bed and I think the pewter works wonderfully with surrounding colours. The natural wood of the bedside tables is in contrast, however compliments the sisal flooring. The fur rug adds a touch of opulence. Of course every bedroom should have a corner chair and the winged back chair in Mary's room has been upholstered in Ralph Lauren's Zebra print. To complete the room, Mary hung a lovely French chandelier.  I would have to admit overall this room is my favourite and I could easily see myself lazing in bed on a Sunday morning, looking towards the glistening harbour in the distance.

Note:  Unfortunately the bed is a little distorted in this image due to the camera.

Master ensuite

Night time views across the harbour

More Images of Mary's stunning home...

A beautiful guest bedroom

The guest bedroom has French doors leading to it's small private portico and onto the garden

Views across the harbour

Another living area, neutral tones brought to life by a mix of textures and pattern.

Mary's previous background has been high end interior design and it is clearly evident in the stunning renovation of her home. Today Mary is happy to spend time renovating and decorating for herself. Her style is clearly recognisable, an eclectic mix of antique, French, Italian and SE Asian pieces that have me in awe! As I soak up the images she has shared, I would describe Mary's home as classic with beautiful moments of opulence. Overall her home is rich, warm and inviting  and I can imagine it would be hard for anyone to ever want to leave.

I hope you've enjoyed the tours of Mary's home, thank you very much Mary for allowing me to share your beautiful home with my readers. 

At the time I am publishing this post I should hopefully be relaxing in Sunny Brisbane. I planned to take a holiday to stay with good friends after my mother passed away last year and now is the time to do it. I will be away until the 13th of October so probably there will be no more posts until this time, although I have to admit I will have my laptop with me to check my mail from time to time.

I will be back on the 14th October, if you don't want to miss out on future posts, you can sign up for email on my side bar.

If you love Mary's style you may also like the tour I featured recently of  interior designer Andrew Melville's home. If you didn't read my earlier post on Mary's house, there is a link above.

A Gracious Auckland Villa In St Marys Bay - Part One

Mary Gordon is constantly seeking new challenges, admitting she rarely exceeds three years living in one one place. Relishing the challenge of renovating and decorating older homes, Mary came across her St Marys Bay villa a little over 2 years ago when returning from overseas. With views towards the Harbour Bridge and Westhaven Marina, one can clearly see her attraction to its location. However, when Mary originally spotted the villa, it was tired, dated and in desperate need of some TLC. Not afraid of a challenge and with her keen eye, Mary went ahead to buy the property.

If you are familiar with New Zealand 'Villa' architecture, you will know that their usual layout was a central hallway with small rooms leading off each side. Mary's home initially fitted into this category, however, seeing its potential, as soon as the keys were exchanged, 3 month renovation plans were launched and after council approval the work began. Initially downstairs walls were removed to create a spacious open plan area. This area would flow through the living/dining and kitchen into a wonderful all weather outdoor portico, complete with fireplace. Mary chose to keep the main living area light and bright opting for Resene 'Black/White' paintwork to offset the dark wood floors. The dark stain on the floor boards was achieved by mixing several colours together and I think the results are stunning.

The TV lounge below is an exotic mix of patterns and textures as seen in the Ralph Lauren cushions on the sofa and zebra print floor rug. A luxurious possum fur throw, spreads itself across the sofa where Mary's two West Highland Terriers can often be seen snuggling down. Mary painted the walls in this room using a special paint technique. Of course furnishing and styling a room as beautifully as this takes a creative mind and Mary's obvious talent for layering and creating beautiful vignettes has pulled the room together.

Below, a white, country style kitchen leads off the dining room. Classic styled, panelled doors and subway tiles blend with the character of the villa. A large double oven is perfect for entertaining and although the kitchen is compact, it doesn't end there, Mary designed an adjacent butlers pantry, complete with butlers sink and plenty of shelving. What better way to be able to hide the spoils of a dinner party.

Mary went on to create a stunning upstairs master suite, exquisitely decorated guest bedrooms and updated bathrooms. And, not forgetting the exterior and the creation of a delightful, European inspired courtyard complete with topiaries and buxus to welcome her visitors. 

I have far too many images to publish in this post so I will be sharing Mary's stunning upstairs master bedroom and further images in my next post. Mary's bedroom is my favourite room and you definitely won't want to miss seeing it. I will be publishing part two on the 30th September. I fly out that evening for Brisbane for two weeks and will not be publishing while I am away. Leaving you with part two of Mary's house will give you plenty to absorb until I return on the 13th October.

More images...

Don't forget to return for part two of this post, with more beautiful images and featuring Mary's stunning master bedroom. If you want to keep up to date with fresh posts, please sign up for email updates on my side bar.

Part two of this post and further images, including Mary's fabulous French style bedroom can be seen here.

If you have visited this post before and found the link above didn't work, I apologise, the link has since been fixed.

I will be sharing this post with the following blogs:

I should be Mopping the Floor

The Dedicated House

Alderberry Hill

DIY Showoff

Savvy Southern Style

Not Just A Housewife

No Minimalist Here

The Real Housewives of Riverton
My Romantic Home