- Janine and Brian Jones renovated an old schoolhouse in Eltham over five years.
- They retained the building’s character, adding insulation and double-glazed windows.
- The couple are selling the property to move closer to Brian’s work in Whanganui.
Some people collect glassware and ceramics from their op shop roadies. Not Janine Jones. She found an old schoolhouse in Eltham, South Taranaki, in dire need of repair.
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The run-down shell of a building was for sale for over $180,000, and Janine and her husband Brian pounced, ready to embark on a renovation that would last five years and involve trips to the hospital.
The couple told OneRoof that the whole adventure started in 2021, when Janine was on a road trip from Rotorua to Whanganui with a friend who loved op shops as much as she did.
While driving through Eltham, they spotted an old green building at 105 High Street. It piqued their interest so much that they stopped to have a look.
The couple bought the former schoolhouse in 2021 and transformed it beyond recognition. Photo / Supplied
The house is filled with treasures from the couple’s trips to op shops around the country. Photo / Supplied
Janine loved what she saw and arranged a second viewing for her husband a few days later, which was just as well since she had bought a home on impulse once before without him knowing. Janine laughed: “We are risk-takers, which thankfully has paid off over the years.”
The couple weren’t in the market for a home or a project in 2021, and didn’t have cash to buy one either. “So, there were lots and lots of roadblocks to stop us from purchasing this building,” Janine said, “[but Brian] goes, ‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’.”
They were surprised that the bank said “yes” to the purchase, so they went ahead and made an offer. “Within a few weeks, we had purchased it,” Janine said.
The couple, originally from Auckland, weren’t worried about starting anew in Eltham and had experience with renovations, so they knew what they were getting into. “We’ve built new, and we’ve renovated,” Janine said.
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Once they settled on the property, the couple moved in and began planning their wildly stylish home. “It was very cold [to begin with]. But we’re not afraid to live it rough for a bit because we know that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
The couple added insulation and double-glazed windows but were keen to retain and restore as much of the building’s character as possible.
“It was a large project,” Janine said. “We didn’t want to completely modernise her and destroy what character she had. So, we reused what we could. We prefer restoring over renovating.
The schoolhouse caught Janine’s eye during a road trip with one of her friends. It’s now attracting interest from as far away as Auckland. Photo / Supplied
A picture of the schoolhouse in its heyday. Photo / Supplied
“There are things in there that we haven’t touched, like the doorsteps that are worn away. We did as much restoring as possible. For example, the windows on the side are double-glazed, but they’re in wood rather than aluminium.”
The couple hit the op shops to find antique treasures for the property, with Janine’s favourite purchase a grand chandelier. The pair also commissioned artworks for the home, including work by local artist Terri Bracey that will stay with the home.
Janine told OneRoof that her design choices were based on what made her happy. Although Brian loves the flowered wallpaper ceiling in one of the rooms, he has said “never again” because of what he had to do to get it up there. “He never wants me to opt for that choice again,” Janine said.
There were other challenges. At one point, Brian fell off a ladder, hit a radiator and broke two ribs, Janine said. “But the radiator works just fine. We have quirky humour and love to laugh at the tough times life throws you,” she said.
Janine said she and Brian felt like kaitiaki of the property, not owners, and the renovation was about giving back to the Eltham community as much as creating a home. “We just love the locals. They’re amazing.”
The renovation took Janine and Brian five years to complete. Photo / Supplied
Brian in hospital after falling from a ladder during the project. Photo / Supplied
During her time in Eltham, Janine worked part-time at the BP Station across the road from the couple’s home. Virtually every day, she fielded questions from customers keen to know more about the old schoolhouse, not realising that she owned it. She eventually erected a sign on the property that answered many people’s questions.
After five years, Janine and Brian have completed their project and have decided to sell and move closer to Brian’s engineering work in Whanganui. They have bought a modern GJ Gardner home, which Janine does plan to personalise. “My son keeps saying, 'What are you going to do to ruin it, Mum?’, because they’re just waiting for me to get in and do my thing.”
Although the couple have said their goodbyes to the property and community, Janine has one last fling planned: an exhibition of her artwork opened at Easter in the Village Gallery. The couple also plan to hold the mother of all garage sales to sell most of their op shop treasures.
Tall Poppy listing agent Jacki Berry said that much of the interest in the home was local, but she revealed she was also speaking to buyers from Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, who were lined up to visit after Easter.
“Everyone who has been through is looking for that character,” Berry said. “They walk in and [are] just blown away. [Janine] is a very clever lady and does everything to the absolute highest spec. She has this beautiful open mindset, and she can just pull any colour from anywhere and make it work.”
- 105 High Street, Eltham, South Taranaki, is for sale, enquiries over $545,000
