b'pictures: Becky Nunes Liz and Paul Gallagher bought their 90-year-old villa, situated on two acres of farmland at Dairy Flat outside Auckland,12 years ago. Little did they realise that their vision for the house would literally be turned around 180 degrees. For the first two or three years, Paul and Liz lived in theul\'ve always known what I liked,but not always where house and tossed around ideas about how they mightto findit,"says Liz. "I knew I wanted a house that was very do it up. It wasn\'t until they enlistedthe expertise oflinked to-light the gardenand airy with a warm atmosphere architect Richard Higham, who suggested that they moveand an easy flow about it. I think we\'ve achieved this." the house so that it faced in the opposite direction, that She says that researching products to get the effect they everything began to fall into place. wanted was very time-consuming. The house was jacked up in much the same way as you\'dThey were after simple, natural, uncluttered, do with a car. clean lines, but not minimalist - it was, after "The house was picked up, turned around andmovedall, a country house. about 10 feet forward so that the living area opened out onto a north-facing garden and the bedrooms were at"We spenta lot of weekendsporingovermagazines, the rear,"saysLiz."It was a fascinating experience tocatalogues andbrochures,andvisitingsuppliers.There watch the process and it tookdays. We then knocked twowere so many decisions we had to make along the way; off the back of the house, put in a whole new back andmore than I could have ever imagined. If we had used created a new" upstairs area. an interior designer, it would probably have saved us a Theproperty came complete with a barn,whichtheylot of time - they would have had an existing library of lived in while the house was being turned around andsuppliers\' product catalogues, swatches and samples, and which Liz now uses to store furniture for her showhomeknown exactly where to go for everything." staging business.The renovations were "a long, drawn-out process" that Architect Higham was involved at the beginning, helpingtook place over a period of three years asthe couple them to plan the addition of a first floor wing and a largecould afford them, and there\'s still more to do. The new open-plan kitchen, dining and lounge area on the groundaddition is complete, but the original part of the house, floor. Together, Liz and Paul chose all the colours, fixtureswhich is linked to the new living area by an atrium, is yet and fittings.to be finished. A wraparound verandah was added to the habitat17'