Our Homes Today
The dining room - the epitome of relaxed sophistication. Thanks to Nanette Cameron, Pakuranga is a more interesting place to live. A resident in the area since the late 1950s, Nanette, along with a group of like-minded individuals, was instrumental in developing the new suburb’s cultural landscape.
Today, she continues to work her magic as the director of the Nanette Cameron School of Interior Design, based at Pakuranga’s te tuhi – the Centre for the Arts, which is the tangible legacy of the contribution she has made to the community. And in recognition of her commitment, Nanette was awarded an OBE in 2004.
A city-standard gallery, community and arts centre, Te Tuhi is seen as leading edge by many in the art scene. A range of classes are held daily during term-time and thanks to fundraising efforts by the East Manukau Arts Trust (formerly the Pakuranga Arts Society), the Interior Design Guild and Manukau City Council education funding, groups from lower decile schools regularly take part in high calibre programmes not normally available to them.
While so much more accessible than 50 years ago, Pakuranga is still perceived as being out on a limb and to counter that perception, te tuhi now offers a free bus service from Auckland City, transporting people to exhibition openings.
With her iconic design classes set to re-commence on February 11, it is full steam ahead for Nanette however, sadly, she is also preparing to pull up residential roots and head for the bright lights of Auckland City.
With running the Interior Design School (a full-time job), involvement with te tuhi, the Interior Design Guild and other related projects, life has been pretty full for this trail-blazing dynamo. Consequently, her Pakuranga home, on a large and leafy section, became too much work and late last year she reluctantly placed it on the market.
With its recent sale, Nanette will soon take up residence in her new Freeman’s Bay townhouse but admits to having mixed feelings about leaving a home she’s lived in for so long. While Nanette will relish the opportunities that living closer to the CBD provide, regrettably she can’t take many of her treasured pieces of furniture.
A life-long interest in architecture, design and the arts means she’s built up a much-loved collection of furniture, artwork and objets d’art – far too comprehensive to fit into her compact, cosmopolitan dwelling. But there’s one consolation – Nanette’s finally going to have a wall of floor to ceiling shelves built for her prized book collection – something she’s wanted for a long time.
The bathroom features a private courtyard garden. Looking back
When Nanette arrived in Pakuranga with her husband Douglas in the late 1950s, the area was a green belt. “There was nothing between Panmure and Howick – just one small dairy near Panmure Bridge.”
From their converted sharemilker’s cottage on the highest point of Glenmore Road, they looked across a narrow gravel road to a fence of old rambling roses enclosing a bull paddock. The only building they could see from their front window was a small church in the distance.
The Camerons raised two children in the home and both have pursued creative careers. Daughter Kirsty is a costume designer in the film industry and son Johnny is a poet living in Northland. Sadly, Douglas died in 1987 after suffering with Parkinson’s Disease for many years.
Looking back on Pakuranga’s evolvement, Nanette says people really started arriving in the mid ’60s, when residential land became available. “But it was some time before there was a sense of community or appreciation that a cultural hub was important.”
Then, in the 1970s, Pakuranga did gain some notoriety with people from all over New Zealand referring to it as “Vim Valley”, thanks to television advertisements showing smiling women in glamorous frocks cleaning vigorously with Vim.
Nanette says those images didn’t reflect what was really happening in the area where many women – most of them young mothers – felt quite isolated.
About the same time, a group of locals decided a cultural centre was needed. Iris Fisher, Lois Perry, Andrew Venter and Nanette, among others, helped form the Pakuranga Arts Society.
“We wanted to get something going,” says Nanette. “We petitioned council and after much lobbying and fundraising, the Pakuranga Community Cultural Centre was opened at 13 Reeves Rd, Pakuranga in 1977. The centre, which later incorporated the Iris Fisher Gallery, was home to a variety of creative classes such as painting, pottery, weaving, interior design and dance, and provided a much-needed community gathering place.
Nanette says the district has expanded immensely since those early days with many new facilities being added to cater for a community enhanced by a wider cultural mix. Yet it is hard for her to be as positive about the physical landscape.
“Much of the area seems devoid of architectural merit. With a number of subdivisions being developed simultaneously, we see little more than roofs in some areas and we tend to have a big clutter of mansions in others.” Aside from lobbying the council about building standards, Nanette doesn’t see there’s much that can be done. She can only look forward and hope things improve.
An interior design tutor for more than 40 years, her classes weren’t initially meant to train designers, but rather to give women the confidence to decorate their own homes and expand their horizons. Over time, the scope and calibre of the courses developed and, as a result, Nanette has trained some of the country’s most prominent interior design consultants.
Nanette’s career really began when she gained a Home Science degree at Otago University – the nearest thing to interior design at the time. Then, after three years in London, soaking up the style, followed by 10 years working for New Zealand’s first interior design firm, Hurdley’s of Auckland, she developed her skills as a leading interior designer. During the ’70s and ’80s she also gained a solid reputation as a journalist and stylist for some of the country’s leading design publications.
Through her immense passion for everything to do with art, architecture and design, Nanette has built up a vast and staggering knowledge, which has inspired thousands of students. She continues to do so with her trademark enthusiasm and boundless energy, often putting many women half her age to shame.
Not surprisingly, Nanette’s own house was considered the essence of casual sophistication in the ’70s. The property was one of the first in the area to have a swimming pool, which created great excitement for children and adults within a wide radius. Architect Rex Mason designed additions to the house in 1965, while architect and landscape architect Harry Turbott designed the pool and landscaped grounds, with the result an avant-garde enclave in the heart of suburbia.
“We introduced many features people hadn’t seen before. Welsh quarry tiles from England were laid in the kitchen and living room, causing quite a stir. We applied gloss paint to every ceiling, and covered the walls in several rooms with Swedish jute, which we then painted. But it has never been a precious home,” she says, firmly believing that homes are for living in, not for pretentious display.
The dining room is a particular favourite with Nanette, who enjoys the rituals of dining. Sophisticated and sensuous, it features a black gloss ceiling; a glass cylindrical light fixture designed by Ronald Cox; golden-brown, floor to ceiling, beetled linen curtains and a black lacquered shelf which Nanette says isn’t terribly practical but is ideal for displaying treasured pieces.
A Nigel Brown portrait of artist Philip Clairmont hangs above a 16th century oak chest. The walls are covered in Japanese grass paper, the timber floor is waxed matai and cedar bi-folds separate the room from the lounge when required. The round, black dining table, another prized piece, was designed by a young female architect in the mid ’60s.
Nanette’s bedroom and bathroom, part of the mid-’60s addition, are also special rooms for her. White glass mosaic tiles gleam in the bathroom, which features a round, open, stepped-down shower stall and private garden beyond. Nearby, the all-white bedroom is the ultimate in serenity, with the white gloss ceiling reflecting the azure blue pool beyond.
For a woman whose career has been based around interiors and design, her home definitely is an important place and while down-sizing will be a challenge, Nanette’s the perfect person to create another haven for herself, no matter where it is.
