Early one evening in January last year, Pat and Mike were outside relaxing after a busy day. But when Mike looked up towards the house and saw a glow coming from the kitchen window he knew immediately something was wrong. He bolted towards the house, but it was too late to do a thing. An electrical fire, which had started in the kitchen, engulfed the home within minutes. In half an hour, nearly 30 years worth of possessions and mementos had burnt to the ground.
The Gethings had bought the original Kingsland house 27 years earlier and had it shifted to their Whitford property. Over the years it had grown into a rambling, comfortable, country retreat bursting with family treasures, original artworks and a fantastic collection of books. The loss was devastating. But what was most devastating was the loss of their adored Labrador dog Alcyone, who was in the house at the time.
For three weeks after the fire Mike and Pat stayed with friends and family, then shifted a portable hut onto the land just metres from the charred remains of their much-loved villa. From there they began planning a new home.
Always reluctant to look back, Pat has stayed positive and says one advantage of the temporary accommodation – three metres wide by five metres long – is that it has brought her and Mike closer together, literally! They have had no storage issues either, as everything they previously owned is gone.
While intending to be there for only six months, the Gethings have since cobbled together a collection of sheds and shelters where they have been living like mature hippies. Their four pedigree Labradors have also taken to the new lifestyle, enjoying the relaxed housekeeping standards while the family is between homes.
Although the sorry saga has been a regrettable experience, Pat says some great things have come from it. As well as the fantastic support, they have redesigned a new home, tweaking elements they didn’t like in the old one, and adding new features such as solar heating.
Planning started on the new residence pretty much straight after the fire, and not surprisingly the appointment of an architect had an animal connection. Jeff Stuart from Mark Gray Architects regularly takes his cat to Mike for check-ups, and one day the conversation turned to house plans.
“When Jeff said he had pulled up the carpet in his home because his cat had asthma, we knew we were on the same wavelength,” Pats says. “We then asked him to come and have a look at the site.”
While the new home covers the original footprint exactly, Jeff was reluctant to build them a replica house. Instead he designed a 200m2 homestead and even though the house is still taking shape, Pat is delighted to report it is already displaying character, which many visitors have commented on.
Inspired by older-style homes, Pat says the spacious rooms, stained glass windows, recycled rimu floors, high ceilings, wide skirting boards and bull-nosed verandas, have already given the place a sense of soul which she hopes will grow as they re-instate the kind of things they love most.
However, with their beloved books burnt to a cinder, filling floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on one wall might have proved too much of a challenge but, thanks to the generosity of book-loving friends, the task has been easier than expected. Pat and Mike have also started re-purchasing their favourite novels ready to place on the shelves together with Pat’s first purchase, Keri Hulme’s, The Bone People.
Replacing artwork is likely to be more difficult because it took years to gather together their first collection. Pat owned three Toss Woollaston paintings, which went up in smoke along with several works by Philip Trustrum. But the couple has started perusing art gallery catalogues and Philip Trustrum has kindly invited Pat and Mike to visit his studio and select some pieces when they’re ready.
“We knew our old timber home was vulnerable to fire and were fastidious about safety. In the new home we have all the fire fighting bells and whistles imaginable – sprinklers, insulation – the lot.”
If she could change one thing from the past, Pat says she would have placed important documents and precious possessions in a fireproof safe somewhere away from the house. “We felt like homeless people when we re-applied for driver’s licences and passports – we needed identification for new documents, but we’d lost everything.”
They’ve also learnt that to function well they don’t need as much “stuff” about them as they previously thought but what they have missed most about their house is not having a place for the grandchildren to stay. Moreover, Pat says she never thought she would miss cooking in a well-appointed kitchen. (There’s no stove in the temporary digs.)
When the new home is completed, hopefully by August this year, the Gethings are planning a special dinner for those who have been so kind to them over the past 18 months and they just can’t wait for their grandchildren to run happily and loudly through their home again.
