PHOTO: Moving to Greenhithe from Grey Lynn has been good for Mimi and Stephen and their two young girls – Olympia, left, and Octavia. JANE USSHER/NZ HOUSE & GARDEN
This story is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.
According to STUFF Mimi Gilmour Buckley imagined she would plunge into an identity crisis when, last May, she moved with her husband Stephen and their two young children, from an upbeat, artsy inner suburb of Auckland out along the northwestern motorway to the genteel village of Greenhithe.
“I had been renting in Grey Lynn for 15 years,” explains the hospitality entrepreneur, “but we couldn’t afford to buy there.”
Truth is, although a character home within their budget was part of the criteria, the biggest tick-box by far was a place to accommodate the special needs of their 5-year-old daughter, Olympia, who was born with a significant brain injury. “Olympia was diagnosed with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and she is an absolute angel,” says Mimi.
“We needed room for her wheelchair and, as she gets older, a big house that we could renovate to make a purpose-built space with an electric ceiling hoist and all the space needed to care for her needs.”
And so, the mission began. At first the couple was looking in Birkenhead but, 80 houses later, no joy. Then a savvy real estate agent mentioned a place in Greenhithe that had just come on the market.
Although she had her doubts about shifting so far from her regular stomping ground, as soon as Mimi saw the property, her gut instinct gave her a little kick of acknowledgement. “It was so beautiful and peaceful. It was a place to put down roots. Somewhere to feel grounded,” she says. Stephen agreed. With financial help from family, they took a deep breath and signed.
Gracious and colonial in style, the house is, surprisingly, only 20 years old. You’d hardly guess.
Curvaceous flower beds skirt a gravel drive that leads up to a weatherboard dwelling with all the requisite character features. With no obvious garage and surrounded by well-established trees, it’s like arriving in a different era. “I grew up in villas – in what my mama would call ‘a proper house’ – so there was a sense of familiarity to this for me,” says Mimi.
Once inside, the high stud, including cathedral ceilings in the kitchen and dining area, rustic brick floors, built-in bookshelves, french doors and two attic-style bedrooms capture the flavour of the past – but it’s the garden that really turns the experience into something special.
The C-shaped plan embraces a courtyard where formal plantings and glorious well-established trees ensure that, inside, the greenery is ever-present. Right now, starry white jasmine rambles fragrantly over trellis, mass plantings of white hydrangea are about to launch into showstopping display and a Canadian maple is a rebellious punch of red amidst its more serene neighbours.
“Living here, I have a newfound appreciation for how nature evolves so quickly,” says Mimi. “It’s truly magical.”
As a counterpoint to the intensity of their working lives – Mimi recently launched a digital platform and product business on a mission to help women build their resilience inspired by her journey with Olympia – the home is crafted as a centre of calm. When they first moved in, the couple decided to just let it be for a year or so, to settle into the home’s rhythms.
When they painted the interiors a warm, restful white (Resene Half Rice Cake) Mimi, a fine arts graduate, had to subdue her love of colour.
“It was a bit of a battle with my husband,” she laughs. But she has other outlets for punchy expression – as seen in her warm, welcoming and art-filled Burger Burger restaurants, which Stephen is co-CEO of, and the vibrant and bright world of IAMMI, her mindful skincare brand, which is inspired by the colours that bring joy to Olympia’s world.
Another advantage of being heart-deep in commercial fit outs is that items can be “requisitioned” for home. An oversized beaten-copper lampshade above the dining table is a case in point, as is the striking Richard Orjis work, a rescue from a restaurant closure, that takes centre stage in the living room.
This room was, in fact, the former main bedroom complete with dressing room and ensuite but because Mimi and Stephen wanted to sleep next door to Olympia, they gladly surrendered it.
On one side of the farmhouse-style kitchen, a glass-fronted cabinet is populated with a personal history. There’s her grandmother’s luncheon set, family crystal, tealight candle holders that were a 21st present and keepsakes from Uganda where her sister-in-law spent many years.
Mimi’s grandfather, Dr Mike Gilmour, was a New Zealand art collector, and she’s slowly finding just the right space for some of his finds.
Mimi brings the same energy that she does to her business endeavours to her shopping habits. “I get obsessed,” she admits.
Perhaps it’s because her mother, Emerald Gilmour, whom she calls “a walking history book”, dragged her around antiques auctions as a child that she can’t resist random finds at auction houses such as Cordy’s and Webb’s.