Contemporary Character – Oxford Terrace by Penny Hay and Fearon Hay Architects

Oxford Terrace is a light, open and airy beachside cottage that becomes more intimate and private the further one retreats into the home.

Every space of Oxford Terrace connects to nature, with a cohesive material palette uniting indoors and outdoors, new addition and original Victorian villa.

The cottage is now open and light to celebrate the view and location, with a modern addition that becomes more intimate and private as one retreats further inside.

Devonport is a picturesque peninsula in Auckland, where charming Victorian villas are nestled around two volcanic cones and within a stone’s throw of the harbour and beach. Oxford Terrace is a beautifully restored beach cottage in Devonport that has been transformed into a calm, informal and nurturing family home. Across the street from a grassy reserve and Cheltenham Beach, the cottage is now open and light to celebrate the view and location, with a modern addition that becomes more intimate and private as one retreats further inside.

Interior architect Penny Hay designed the house in collaboration with her brother, Tim Hay, Director of architecture firm Fearon Hay. Penny and Tim have a longstanding working relationship, sharing a passion for design. “Love and respect for nature was key to the design of the house, with the beachside location fostering an indoor-outdoor lifestyle and a connection to nature being coherent in all decisions,” says Penny.

The sunlight moves from the front to the rear of the property throughout the day, with the light performing in the different spaces as it passes.

The house now comprises the old cottage at the front, which has been transformed into an open living area and a private wing at the rear, accommodating the bedrooms and bathrooms. In between is a green internal courtyard with pavilion kitchen and dining that plays with the notion of positive and negative space. The sunlight moves from the front to the rear of the property throughout the day, with the light performing in the different spaces as it passes.

Penny redesigned the front cottage to create an inviting living space that enjoys a view to the water. “With villas you normally come through the front door and past the bedrooms to the living area. That was unappealing to me,” she explains. Inverting this traditional layout, the bedroom walls have been removed to create one large open space with a dining table and two informal lounge areas separated by two back-to-back fireplaces. Oversized timber French doors with solid internal shutters open to the veranda and views. The new ceiling panelling replicates the original, and shares the story of the original house, as do the kauri floorboards. “We wanted to preserve the craftsmanship and the beautiful inherent character that comes with the age of these old homes,” says Penny.

French doors also open to the pavilion kitchen and courtyard, a tranquil sanctuary cocooned between the old and new buildings.

French doors also open to the pavilion kitchen and courtyard, a tranquil sanctuary cocooned between the old and new buildings. Extending along one wall, the kitchen has a view of the beach and sunrise down the side of the property and is bathed in morning light. Steel bi-fold doors open up the full length of the pavilion for seamless indoor-outdoor space and northern light filters inside through a slightly pitched roof framing the vast sky view. “Gazing to the sky and beyond from the internal courtyard has the same feeling as a James Turrell work,” Penny describes.

The new cottage has four bedrooms and two bathrooms (there are also three outdoor showers), with all rooms opening to nature, the outdoors and sea breeze. The backyard has a vegetable garden, fruit trees and tree house, providing a private outdoor space for the children to play.

The cohesive material palette is pared-back and refined, however required a rigorous process for Penny and Tim to test and resolve. All materials needed to suit internal and external spaces in order to connect indoors and outdoors, create harmony between the old and new, and foster tranquillity and seamlessness of space.

Rendered brick is used for the exterior walls of the new cottage and for the interior of the kitchen and dining area. The hand-painted kitchen joinery is crisp and minimalist, edged in solid brass detailing, and with a beautifully veined marble benchtop and chamfered splashback softening the meeting point with the brick wall. The tone of the rendered brick is repeated in the roofing and timber cladding so that all spaces and structures sit harmoniously with each other. “With the cross over from old to new, the gentle transition of spaces is important to softly celebrate,” Penny says.

The same stone has been used for the internal and external floor of the courtyard and pavilion kitchen, as well as the bathrooms, laundry and outdoor showers. The bathrooms are an immersive, serene space for showering and bathing, with the tiles and many fittings and fixtures custom-designed by Penny.

From light and open at the front of the house to tranquil and private at the rear, Oxford Terrace is charming and beautiful in the Devonport streetscape, while providing a calm and nurturing environment that is always connected to nature. “It’s an idyllic house for a family to grow up in,” Penny says.