Soul preservation

摘要

The late afternoon sun filters into their soft blue drawing room as Hall Cannon and Miles Refo relax in front of a roaring fire to talk about their first two years as the owners of Otahuna. With charming understatement they describe the historic Canterbury homestead as being "quite a change" from the one-bedroom Manhattan apartment of their former lives in New York.The thirty-one-year-olds both exude a confidence and sense of place that belies their dramatic change of lifestyle and the hectic few months they have spent restoring their 1672sqm new home. Built in 1895 and located at Tai Tapu, near Christchurch. the three-storeyed mansion is regarded as one of the finest examples of Queen Anne architecture in Australasia. Its category one Historic Places Trust listing is a testament to its remarkable preservation.