Designer Turns Beige 1950s House Into Retro Beach Paradise

Sometimes losing out on your dream home leads you straight to something even better.

Five years ago, Holly Houndstooth lost at auction and felt crushed. But instead of giving up, she immediately searched Trade Me for "oldest listings, Taupō" and found a two-storey 1950s house that made her heart skip a beat.

"I didn't even need to look anything further than the outside," says Houndstooth, an interior designer who owns studio Houndstooth Interiors. "I was like, 'yeah, this is it. This is the one.'"

She and her partner Brett Cameron, an upholsterer, bought the property near the town centre. The challenge? Every single surface was beige, inside and out.

The former investment property needed serious love. Houndstooth responded to the home's 1950s architecture by creating what she calls a "coastal, cool, quintessential Kiwi" vibe, even though Taupō sits in the middle of the country, nowhere near the ocean.

She kept the space light and white but added bold pops of color throughout. A lifelong retro collector, she went from owning zero nautical items to amassing "a lot" of beach-inspired pieces that perfectly complement the home's character.

The couple made minimal structural changes, adding French doors and a deck to create better indoor-outdoor flow. The real transformation came through thoughtful design choices that honored the home's midcentury roots while making it feel fresh and personal.

Why This Inspires

Houndstooth remembers flipping through Home and Garden magazines as a kid in waiting rooms, looking at featured homes and thinking those people must be "really rich" with their lives completely together. When the magazine approached her to feature this house, it felt full circle.

"It's so funny as an adult," she laughs. "None of us have it all together." But the honor of being featured made childhood dreams feel possible.

Her favorite memories aren't elaborate, they're simple: curling up on the sofa in winter with the fire roaring, dogs nearby, and a glass of red wine. "I feel when we look back in a few years, the times in this house will be the happiest days of our lives," she says.

Now the couple is selling to move closer to the sea in Ōhope, ready for their next adventure while they're still young enough to tackle another restoration project. Houndstooth admits she'll cry when it sells but knows it's time to embrace the "what if" instead of wondering about it forever.

The home goes to auction February 13, ready to bring joy to its next owners as either a permanent residence, bach, or Airbnb.