L'Orangerie was not 'planned' . . 'it grew'
Our family came to Ohauiti and this elevated, sunny farm land with one new born in tow and a dream to plant trees. In the ensuing 24 years we have added another family member and many, many trees, stone walls, a beautiful french inspired home and innumerable family memories along the way . .
At some point . . about 18 years ago . . a friend asked if she could be married on the front lawn of our new home and a huge marquee was duly erected. I spent hours transforming the Marquee into a Moroccan marketplace with ivy laced trellis work on the tented ceiling, hand knotted rugs draped on the walls and tables laden with baskets of oranges, figs, nuts and potted herbs. It was a wonderful celebration and so the seed of an idea . . a 'Wedding Venue' . . was sown.
I quickly realised that marquee weddings were extremely hard work given all the furniture and decorative supplies, not to mention portable loos and generators that had to be bought in. Then it all had to be dismantled and returned and THEN you had to do it all again the following week! I also struggled with making a marquee look as wonderful as those fabulous installations you see on old English films . . with champagne fountains, walls of flowers and sumptuous detailing . . there just wasn't the time or the budget for most families to achieve a truly elegant effect.
. . so I built a Barn . . an authentic, french inspired, rustic space to effectively backdrop the flowers, formal clothes, wedding gowns and elegantly dressed tables encompassed by Weddings and Celebrations. I collected hardwood power poles, villa windows and old T@G floors . . I traded boxes of beer for unwanted roofing iron and carted everything home in my horse float. Then I found Dave . . builder and friend . . and together we put up The Barn . . a deliciously deconstructed structure full of light and ambience.
