A Ponsonby villa, grounded in Bordeaux Herringbone
When Sticks + Stones Design reworked this Ponsonby home, one material had to carry the whole level, from the panelled heritage hallway at the front to the open kitchen and living space at the rear. They chose Bordeaux Herringbone: a light, natural European oak, laid in a classic parquet.
One floor, front to back
The house is a classic Auckland villa. Katie Scott and the team at Sticks + Stones Design wanted to keep its heritage bones, the panelled walls and the long central hallway, while opening the back of the home into a bright, modern kitchen and living room.
A single floor running the length of the house would tie the two halves together. It had to feel period-right in the hallway and completely at home beside a contemporary kitchen. Herringbone does both.
Why Bordeaux Herringbone
Bordeaux is one of our Petit Château oaks, a warm, light-natural European oak. In the herringbone format it is milled into 120 by 600mm blocks, Prime grade, and set in the traditional zig-zag, a pattern that has dressed European homes for centuries and still reads as current.
It is an engineered board, 15mm thick with a 4mm oak wear layer, in a soft light-natural lacquered finish. The engineered construction gives it the stability a herringbone floor needs across a large open plan, and the pale tone keeps the pattern from feeling heavy.
Timber in a working kitchen, done properly
Running the same floor into the kitchen was a deliberate choice, not a compromise. Engineered construction gives the board more dimensional stability than a solid plank, so it copes with the everyday traffic and the temperature swings of a kitchen without the movement you can get from solid timber.
A kitchen puts timber close to water, so the installation was detailed to keep the boards clear of the sink and appliance zones where water can sit.
Heritage and modern, held together
The finished floor does exactly what the brief asked. In the hallway the herringbone feels like it has always been there. At the rear it grounds a curved, fluted island, warm oak joinery and a wall of glass that opens to the pool.
It is one material, one tone, from the front door to the back garden, and it is what makes the whole level read as a single home rather than an old house with a new box on the back.
Interior design: Sticks + Stones Design. Photography: John Williams.
Herringbone & parquet
How herringbone, chevron and parquet compare, and where each works.
Thinking about a herringbone floor?
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