Northland mum finds derelict houses and transforms them into pieces of art

Northlander Lisa Gardyne renovates old houses - the more rotten the better - in Hikurangi. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northlander Lisa Gardyne is no ordinary home renovator, preferring to sink her teeth into derelict old buildings - “the more rotten the better” - and transform them into pieces of art.

For nearly 20 years the mother of three and full-time volunteer has lived in Hikurangi, a former coal mining town and timber milling centre, in Whangārei, where her passion for doing up dilapidated houses began.

From coal miners’ cottages to shops and character bungalows, Gardyne has refurbished them all.

“They just ooze character, and I want to turn the ‘broken houses’, as my children call them, into something beautiful.

“That progressed into the more derelict, stinky and rotten the better as time went by, which is what I think has become the challenge. Everything has a story that unfolds as you pull these old girls apart ... and I guess the story continues as you put them back together.”

Gardyne’s current doer-upper is a shop and residence on King St she believes could date back to the 1880s.

The building started life as a shoe repair shop before becoming home to Murphy’s Electrical and was more commonly known as “Spud”, she said.

Then Gardyne’s friend bought the building three years ago, and she’s been helping with the renovations.

“I introduced them to mustard yellow and was asked to paint it as a feature wall in the kitchen.

“I went Indian ink blue and took that too far, then switched to duck egg blue, and everyone walks in and goes wow.”

Known for her love of colour and chandeliers, Gardyne started transforming run-down houses into pieces of art in 2004. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Known for her love of colour and chandeliers, Gardyne is a volunteer at the Hikurangi Museum, and local crop swap and gardening groups.

She has carried out six housing renovations before the current project on King St.

“I bought old rotten houses starting in 2004 and turned them into something beautiful,” she said.

“I don’t know where it comes from. I come from Gore and was brought up on a big grain and sheep farm. We lived in a villa which was very cold, but as an adult I just loved the history.

“A lot has come from the challenge of not having much money; that’s made me more creative.”

Upcycling household items and finding treasures she could use in her projects were all part of the challenge, she said.

“I’ve upcycled a few things from the rubbish dump; old pieces of rusting steel. I like taking a pair of jeans and turning them into a draught stopper, or a big bit of wood and making a drawbridge for a kids’ playground.”

Gardyne wanted wheelchair access from the King St building to extend to the garden, which inspired an entrance using a gate from an Indian palace she found on TradeMe.

Lisa Gardyne's current project is an old shop and residence on King St in Hikurangi that she believes could date back to the 1880s. Photo / Michael Cunningham

She also removed the lowered ceilings and restored the originals, and used a “funky black and white tile” for the bathroom floor in a nod to history.

The wheelchair access ramp has turned out well. “It’s a piece of art”, she said.

“This was my first opportunity to really push my comfort zone on becoming artistic.”

While her friend lives in the attached house, the shop is now used for crop swap meetings and gatherings for the clothing library, which receives garments from Intercept, for which Gardyne also volunteers.

She has lived with her children in most of the housing projects while doing them up, before moving on to the next one.

“Then I’d get the one next door, and when the kids slept I could work on them.

“Along the way, I learned some skills and fished a few things out of the rubbish skip.

“I really like the old rotten ones [houses] now. That’s the passion.”