Blenheim villa

PHOTO: PAUL MCCREDIE/NZ HOUSE & GARDENRob and Lynne at the front door of their house where Rob grew up.

Rob Hammond had to give up fishing, according to family legend, to stave off his wife Lynne’s appetite for house renovation. 

The Blenheim couple finish each other’s sentences as they describe torn corners of wallpaper becoming full-blown plaster and paint jobs, or an edge of lifted carpet evolving into sanded floorboards throughout. Lynne laughs as she recounts multiple occasions when Rob would return from a weekend away fishing to find holes knocked in walls or major projects under way.

“I don’t go fishing any more,” Rob says good naturedly.

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