This story is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.
When Sydney-based Kiwi couple Tim Eustace and Salvador Panui took on the revival of a north Taranaki cliff-top heritage property, they had plenty of experience to draw on.
Keen to have a New Zealand bolt-hole, Tim and Salvador bought Wilkinson’s Castle, a James Chapman-Taylor-designed arts and crafts house, in 2019 and quickly began its renovation. “We have to have a project,” says Tim, a stockbroker and lawyer.
In 2005, the couple bought and renovated Lyndhurst, a Sydney heritage home built in the 1830s. Its architect was John Verge, who also designed the Treaty House at Waitangi.
Tim and Salvador sold the property in 2016, the same year they bought another heritage home, Iona, from Hollywood filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. The elegant Darlinghurst home dates from the 1880s.
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
Left, Tim Eustace and Salvador Panui say The Castle is a place of privacy and peace: “It’s a long way from anywhere. For us, it’s not easily accessible, which makes the place more of a folly than ever, and thatâs part of its charm,” says Tim. Right, a Kartell Bloom pendant light by Ferruccio Laviani hangs above Timothy Oulton Cabana chairs at the other end of the living room; the area is backlit by a multipaned bay window – there are 690 panes of glass in the house.
“The Castle”, as Taranaki folk call the former holiday home of Charles Anderson Wilkinson, MP for Egmont (1912-19 and 1928-1943) and mayor of Eltham (1941-47), is steeped in history.
It was built in 1929-30 on a pā site at Pukearuhe, north of New Plymouth, overlooking the Tasman Sea, and was a retreat for Wilkinson who was a private man with a public life.
“This came up and neither of us had been to Taranaki,” says Tim, sitting in the home’s “great living room” on a rainy day.
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
The basic construction of The Castle is reinforced concrete with thick exterior walls of sandstone, sourced from an outcrop on the beach almost 5km away; it was originally built as a holiday home for local politician Charles Wilkinson and is being used for the same purpose more than 90 years later.
“The cliff-top position looked spectacular, and arts and crafts is a vernacular we like. We have always lived in historic homes. They are generally quite lived in… it’s lovely to know they have been occupied for some duration.”
While patting long-haired miniature dachshund Snoop Dog, who belongs to their daughter Leila, Tim talks about quality and quirks.
“You would never get a house built with the quaintness and character of something like The Castle.”
The largest of all the houses designed by Chapman-Taylor is hewn from local stone, has giant timber beams and large fireplaces, an inner courtyard and cloisters. Despite its name, there are no turrets, moats or battlements.
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
With its adzed timber and stone walls, Tim and Salvador’s hilltop holiday home in north Taranaki, designed by James Chapman-Taylor in the 1920s, is a stronghold of beauty and solitude beside the Tasman Sea.
The Castle, with its lofty outlook over farmland and Wai-iti Beach at Pukearuhe, provided Wilkinson with a place of privacy and security: “It’s actually the peace and tranquility of the property that we enjoy most too,” says Salvador.
“The first thing we did was take down the elaeagnus hedge,” says Tim of the windbreak along the cliff-top that blocked the sea view. “It was about nine feet high and of course it’s quite thorny. Without the hedge it gives an immediate sense of where you are.”
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
The internal courtyard has been revamped using four huge rust-coloured metal planters made in Australia and filled with sun-loving beauties, including the bloodleaf plant (Iresine herbstii), elephant’s ears (Alocasia macrorrhiza), leatherleaf ferns (Rumohra adiantiformis), umbrella plants (Cyperus alternifolius) and ivy.
The couple have revamped the sheltered courtyard in the heart of the house with subtropical plants and a pond-in-a-pot centrepiece, complete with waterlilies.
The first time they visited they were greeted by a blur of blousy blooms, the hydrangeas that flank the 1km-long driveway. “It’s pretty spectacular. It’s one-dimensional, but there are so many textures and colours,” says Tim.
Tim and Salvador bought the home from Ian and Gwen Besley who had owned it for 30 years, hiring it out to groups for celebrations or peaceful retreats.
The couple have continued to rent out The Castle and occasionally offer it free or at a reduced price for community organisations who want to use it for a function or fundraiser. “It was re-kitted with both private and rental use in mind,” Tim says.
They began their renovations within four months of buying the house, starting with the installation of 20 German oil heaters. Then Salvador, a music lover with a background in retail, worked his magic; his artistic flair has been instrumental in revamping their homes in Sydney and New Zealand.
He’s now working on a lifestyle property in Puatahi, north of Auckland, where he grew up. “Salvador has a strong sense of colour and space, matched with a practical bent of how things work and the placement of things. He can walk into a room and make it work better without changing too much,” says Tim.
Every room of the home has been refreshed with new curtains or blinds, carpets, quirky lighting, furniture and tiles that pay homage to the originals, all the while ensuring the hand-adzed timber features shine. Also a fine cook, Salvador had strong ideas about the kitchen.
The biggest changes were made to the four bathrooms. “They were in such a state,” Salvador says. “The dilemma was whether to restore what was there, which in my eyes was too far gone… or a total reno respecting what was there originally and using that as my guide for what I wanted to achieve.”
Salvador, Tim and Leila usually come to The Castle for a week at a time. Tim is drawn outside, happy to rake the driveway below leggy pōhutukawa. “That’s limitless in the time spent – it’s not a chore.” They also have a gardener. “She keeps the cottage garden around the house civilised,” he says.
“It’s quite humbling to own something this special. There’s a custodianship aspect that’s important to Salvador and me.”
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
Providing a glimpse of the sea, the bright and light courtyard offers some shade in summer and protection from the wind; medieval-style cloisters provide covered access to the inside.
Q&A with Salvador Panui
My decorating style is: Usually dictated to me by the style and architecture of the house.
Advice for other homeowners: Use colour – be brave and explore the possibilities.
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
The living room features huge, adzed beams of matai that was felled on the property, a stone inglenook fireplace, 1930s armchairs and an original Chapman-Taylor coffee table.
Best decorating tip: Spend money on pieces that solidify a room – the best sofa and cushions you can afford and the best curtains that your budget will allow.
Best budget tip: Repurpose furniture where possible. It gives the rooms a grounded, warm, homely feel.
Jane Dove Juneau/NZ House & Garden
The refurbished bedrooms, all with bedding from Vida in Portugal, have remained true to the Chapman-Taylor style, especially the wood made lustrous by Tim: “When it’s wet, I spend part of the day beeswaxing the beams; mainly puriri, but also matai and rata from the property.”
Proudest DIY achievement: Sorry, I have to admit, none. Best left to the experts. No point spending money to rectify something I’ve done or ruined.
Best part of the renovation: Completion day. Seeing your vision come together and not ending up in debtors’ prison.
Best advice: To install a heating system. Listen to advice from locals if you’re new to the area.
Biggest renovation regret: Not setting a realistic budget.
Renovation high point: Making major changes to the bathrooms.
Best money we spent was on: The diesel heating system.
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