With two young daughters, Sian and Hagan Hill are still figuring out what Christmas looks like for their family, but it’s a given that Christmas Day will include copious amounts of food, a siesta in the afternoon, a classic Christmas movie and making memories with their Auckland villa as the backdrop.
“Both of our families have strong traditions,” says Sian, “so we’re still figuring out how to blend the two – and add in some of our own. For us, it’s about honouring the old and welcoming the new.”
Hagan’s family celebrates each Christmas at Lake Rotoiti. On Christmas Eve, they enjoy pizza, Champagne, and a few gifts so everyone can get up early for Christmas morning waterskiing. Sian’s side spends Christmas Eve making chocolate-dipped strawberries in front of a Christmas movie.
“Pre-kids, we would alternate which side of the family we spent Christmas with, but now we have the girls, we’re keen to start blending the families more,” says Sian.
“This is the first year Gwen’s properly into it, and she has written Santa a wish list. We’re excited to see the look on her face on Christmas morning once he’s visited.”
Home profile
Meet and greet: Sian (lead merchandise planner of homewares at The Warehouse and owner of children’s online store, Bennie and the Jets) and Hagan Hill (general manager of The Wrap Shop), and daughters, Gwen, three, and Marni, 17 months, plus Kenzo the dog and Sam the cat, who came with the house.
The property: Renovated 1910s villa with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a sunroom/study.
Their Glenfield property, which the couple has renovated top to bottom, will make an ideal setting for an extended family Christmas gathering, with its spacious open-plan living and generous kitchen, perfect for the steady flow of festive food, including Sian’s aunt Becky’s sticky Philadelphia buns, which are “non-negotiable at Christmas”.
Last year, with baby Marni still tiny, the Hills kept things low-key with a barbecue on the deck. This year, Sian’s going bigger. The Hills adorn their Christmas tree in pink, red and white – but they change the theme every year, along with the tree itself.
“We swap trees each year with my parents or friends. Between us, we have green, white, yellow and orange trees, so it’s a good way to mix things up without having to buy new ones,” Sian says.
“One year – pre-children, pre-renovation, and when Hagan worked in signage – we took advantage of his access to a laser cutter and made a tree-full of decorations of our cat’s face. We like to change things up to keep things fun.”
That playfulness carries through the rest of their home. White walls act as a backdrop for a collection of colourful, often irreverent pieces. A giant pencil hangs above the TV, and an oversized burger sits in Gwen’s room. They’ve scattered Arnold Circus stools throughout the space in various colours. “They’re ridiculously practical,” Sian says.
“We wanted the house to be a blank canvas. Hagan and I both really like ‘things’, and we didn’t want to compete with existing colour. Our personal style leans toward bright, mid-century design and more modern pieces – a nod to our millennial Hypebeast days. We kept the walls clean and simple, so we could add colour through artwork, furniture and decor.”
One exception is the front door, which is painted in Resene Blossom at Gwen’s request, adding the perfect punctuation point to leaving or arriving home. The couple hadn’t initially set out to buy a villa – or even a house. They went looking to purchase a home six years ago.
“We’d been looking for two years, starting with city apartments, then fringe townhouses and eventually houses in the suburbs,” says Sian. “When we saw this one, my first thought was, ‘Wait – there are villas in Glenfield?’ It ticked the boxes, especially in terms of bang for buck.”
They had plans for a little renovation, which quickly snowballed. “When our builder started calling it a ‘rebuild’, we knew we were in deep,” she says. They updated every room except the girls’ bedrooms.
They flipped the layout, moving the living area from the front to the back. This created a functional open-plan kitchen and living space to achieve that all-important indoor-outdoor flow.
“Creating that open-plan living has been an absolute game-changer for us, especially now with kids. We love that the girls have so much space to play instead of needing to retreat to their bedrooms, and it also sparks curiosity from the girls when I’m in the kitchen, which is nice.”
“We doubled the size of the kitchen in the renovation. Like it or not, the party always centres around the kitchen, so we designed it to ensure it flowed seamlessly from the living and dining area. Before the reno, the formal living room made entertaining a squeeze. Now, we have people over with any opportunity we get.”
They also reinstated the villa’s original character, which previous updates had stripped away.
“It was important to us to bring some soul back, so we brought back some ornate period details like the archway and filigree corbels in the hallway, but kept the overall vibe contemporary,” she says.
“And yes, we also had to fumigate the house for borer — fun times.”
The couple took a hands-on approach to the project, designing everything from the floor plan to cabinetry dimensions.
“We had a draughtsman make sure it was all feasible, but every measurement came from us,” says Sian.
“We lived with my parents during the reno and used their villa as a reference, like for the kitchen island sizing and the ideal spacing around it, which was helpful. Together we designed the kitchen, bookshelf and even the bathroom vanities.”
The pair were keen on having consistency throughout the house. You’ll notice the kitchen cabinets look the same as the primary wardrobe. The kitchen splashback tiles match the bathroom tiles, and the kitchen tapware is a match for the bathroom’s, too.
They also did all the painting inside and out, restored old double-hung windows, and revived the front door. They added insulation in the walls and under-floor. It was a big list – and they still haven’t finished. Still to come is the driveway, the girls’ bedrooms and figuring out how to add shade to their deck.
But first, Christmas – which will no doubt start early. Little feet will race down the hallway. They’ll check whether Santa drinks the Hazy Pale Ale that Gwen is being encouraged to leave out for him on Christmas Eve.
Home truths with Sian Hill
Any renovation or DIY disasters? The ‘70s renovation was falling apart, so we had to rebuild the entire back end of the house. We ended up replacing 18 piles instead of the original eight as planned.
What areas of your renovation did you save on? Splurge on? We splurged on the six-metre sliding door and the radiators for heating. We saved on other joinery because Hagan restored the old double-hung windows.
What do you prefer – high-end or bargain buys? A blend of both. We spend money on things we expect to last, but look for a bargain when shopping for something that we know is more of a phase. We have a million saved searches on Trade Me for more unique items, plus we like to DIY.
Most memorable experience you’ve had in your home? Our worst memory was both of us under the house, installing the underfloor insulation on a very rainy weekend before council sign-off on the Monday. The entire back end of the house had a huge makeshift tent over it. It was made from a wooden frame and a tarpaulin to keep everything dry. The excessive rain caused the tarpaulin to fill, then split. It sent a flood of water under the house where we were working.
Favourite items in your house? The radiators. They are so effective with heating and keep the aesthetics of the house period-correct.
See more of Sian Hill’s home below
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