Home profile
Meet and greet:
Brayden Smith (contract kitchen installer) and Olivia Morgan (doggie daycare owner), and their children, Florence (Flossy), four, and Lincoln, one. Plus pet huskies, Blaze, Nymeria, Meika and Balto, seven horses, five sheep, two pigs, two guinea pigs and one rabbit. Renovated by Brayden’s mum and dad, Jason and Tracey Smith (self-employed property improvers @villadelilah_)
The property:
Relocated double-bay 1890s Auckland villa found on Trade Me named “Delilah”, which was renovated and extended in Tauranga.
For Tracey and Jason Smith, this villa wasn’t just their 12th renovation – it was their redemption project. A score to settle. Years earlier, the couple had purchased 8.9 hectares in rural Tauranga with grand plans to relocate a historic hotel and transform it into their dream home. But when the hotel sale fell through, they had to let the land go. Life moved on. Projects came and went. But they never forgot about that patch of land – they couldn’t really, as it was right across the road from where they lived. Then, the stars aligned.
Jason reached out to the neighbour who’d bought the property, only to discover she’d just decided to sell and move back to town. “Are you telepathic?” she asked.
And just like that, 10 years to the month since they sold it, they bought the land back (at an inflated price). “It felt like fate,” says Tracey. “We always like to have a project on the go, and having one on our doorstep seemed like a great opportunity. We had an itch to scratch – we’d renovated modern houses, ’70s houses and a bungalow but never a villa.”
Enter “Delilah” – a double-bay 1890s villa, listed on Trade Me that morning and snapped up by the couple that afternoon, before anyone else could get a look in.
“You have to act fast with villas,” says Tracey. “I saw the listing, jumped in the car and drove to Auckland and bought her on the spot. The guy already had a waitlist of eight others.”
Built almost entirely from kauri, Delilah had good bones, double-hung sash windows, plastered ceilings and original stained glass that hinted at her former glory. She’d been untouched since the ’70s but had the potential that the Smiths looked for.
Covid lockdowns and council delays meant Delilah sat in that Auckland yard for two years before being trucked to the site. But when she finally arrived, Tracey and Jason were ready.
They stripped the original house right back to framing, rewired, replumbed, insulated, re-gibbed and re-roofed it. The exterior was sanded back to bare timber and rebuilt. The entire back of the house – once plain and square – was transformed with wraparound decking. An extension was added, complete with an open-plan kitchen/dining area and a generous main bedroom suite with an ensuite.
“We wanted it to look like it had always been there,” says Jason, who handled most of the renovation work himself, along with trusted builder Richard from Asset Homes. As a furniture maker by trade and a seasoned renovator, Jason was well-versed in the demands of working with heritage homes. “We tried to preserve as many original ceilings, plaster details and windows as possible.
That was really important to us.” Tracey, a kitchen designer with more than 20 years of experience, relished the challenge of getting stuck into her first villa reno. “For this project, I wanted to do a fun modern take on a traditional family villa. I really enjoyed designing all the cabinetry and panelling for the home with all the traditional details. I wanted every room to have its own personality, but also for the house to feel cohesive.”
Her secret? Resene Bianca. “We used it in varying strengths throughout the house to pull everything together, even though the colours in each room are quite different.”
And yes – there’s colour. The house is filled with joyful, bold choices, from a green kitchen island and floral wallpaper to a yellow ceiling and a room with a lilac doorway frame and wainscoting. “The colour palette was inspired by the stained glass windows: pinks, greens, lilacs and yellows. They’re colours I love anyway, and it gave us a theme to thread through the home. Our amazing painter, Gary, had his work cut out for him – we had so many colours. He was on-site for a full year completing it all,” says Tracey.
There are also nods to Delilah’s name throughout, with floral motifs appearing in unexpected places: daisy cornice details, kitchen panels, stained glass windows, wallpapers and rugs. “It’s our little tribute to her,” smiles Tracey.
Partway through the build, there was an unexpected twist: the couple’s son, Brayden and his fiancée, Olivia, had fallen in love with the house and wanted to buy in. Tracey and Jason jumped at the opportunity to have their family live across the road from them, but there was one request
Brayden wanted for their future home: an in-wall fish tank. “Brayden had always dreamed of one,” says Tracey, laughing. “Easier said than done – we had to bring in an engineer. But it turned out beautifully, and the grandkids love watching the fish.”
Now knowing they were creating rooms for their grandkids, Tracey went to town. There’s a tree mural and a cosy daybed nook under the stairs in one, and a sun-drenched enclosed porch-turned-playroom in another.
“We wanted to make magical spaces for them, places they’ll remember.” Throughout the home, wallpaper is used to add interest, from the whimsical scullery with its second-hand leadlight window from Trade Me, to the elegant powder room with its tiny green sink and brass mirror.
The playful laundry that somehow makes folding washing look enticing, with its spring blooms wallpaper and velvet in-built seating. For the project, the couple leaned on a tight-knit group of tradespeople. Many of whom had worked with them on previous renovations.
“Everyone was excited to be part of something different. Our electricians even commented on how refreshing it was to go back in time and fit heritage light switches instead of the usual recessed ones.”
There were challenges, of course. Sourcing heritage-style lights that didn’t clash with the ornate plaster ceilings, managing delays and repairing intricate cornicing.
But there were triumphs too, like using timber joinery instead of aluminium frames so the new extension was in keeping with the original, and installing a ducted underfloor heat pump system that quietly keeps the whole house comfortable.
Now complete, Delilah is a colourful, character-filled home with heart – and a new chapter. Brayden and Olivia live there with their children and their menagerie of animals.
“We didn’t originally plan for them to move in, but it’s worked out perfectly,” says Tracey. “It made us think more long-term with the renovation, so we upgraded a few things, such as the heating system and added solar. We love that we have created a beautiful family home that our family get to enjoy and grow in, and we love making fun spaces for our beautiful grandchildren to treasure. It is a very special house.”
Daughter-in-law-to-be Olivia says her favourite spot is the main hallway and lounge. “The chandeliers, the arch details in the hallway, the lead lights – at night, it just glows. The kids love the fish tank. And we love the openness and large family areas, with lots of outdoor space for the animals and children to play.”
So, what’s next? Well, there’s a greenhouse to build from leftover villa windows, gardens to finish. Plans for the Smiths’ next project are already underway. But for now, Delilah has well and truly settled in. She’s no longer a dusty villa in storage. She’s a family home, filled with colour, laughter and the warmth of three generations. And that score? Most definitely settled.
Home truths
Best purchase? For Jason, it’s the ornate mantel in the main bedroom, which he picked up for $200. For Tracey, it’s the old dressing table they got for $350 and repurposed as a vanity.
What was your best decision? Including a ducted underfloor heat pump system for hot and cold air. Airflow through the floor vents, rising through the rooms, feels more natural.
Anything you regret or wish you’d done differently? We would have liked to have incorporated a covered back porch over the door, but there were a few things we had to compromise on, due to looks versus practicality.
After 11 renovations, what lessons have you learnt? Don’t live in it while renovating. We have done this too many times. Also, have a realistic timeframe – it’s done when it’s done.
Olivia’s best memories? Getting engaged in the kitchen on Christmas Eve. Watching our children grow up and love the house. Watching the house transform from when it first got delivered to the site to now, and then getting to enjoy living in it.
Tradies or homewares shops that the family recommend
Garry Beauchamp from Beauchamp Decorators is an absolute star. He was on-site for a year painting the villa inside and out, hanging wallpaper and fixing the windows with Jason. We used Bridget Lowe from Capulet Curtain Company for the incredible curtains, and all the timber joinery and internal doors are from Classical Doors.
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