At home with Pip Hally

Pip and Paul Hally live where most people only dream of landing – at Omaka Aerodrome. Their unique, minimalist home draws inspiration from the aviation industry they love and is brought to life by Pip, a Bayleys real estate agent with a keen eye for design.

Photos: Matt Croad

Our story

We both retired from Air Traffic Control roles and moved to Marlborough to be close to family, and Paul wanted to be part of the Omaka aviation community. We had spent all our careers moving around and wanted to settle and put down roots.

Hubby had always wanted to live on an aerodrome in a hangar house, and we had spent the past 15 years looking for exactly that. Unfortunately, the aerodrome sites were never quite right. When this site came up at Omaka Aerodrome, we knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we went for it. Little did we know just how big the journey would be. You couldn’t live on the site initially, so that involved a resource consent change, which ended up being the first of three. The requirements to build were quite specific, so that took a lot of work with the Marlborough District Council, and we ended up building in three stages: the main hangar, the office, and then the hangar/house.

Design inspiration

The look was loosely inspired by the Emirates simulators in Dubai – big white buildings that house the simulators. An awesome facility that we’ve been lucky enough to have a play in. Although what we’ve built isn’t exactly what we started with, our initial design was nicknamed the Thunderbirds Hangar and was accepted for Grand Designs NZ.

Decorating style

I don’t have a particular decorating style; it really depends on the property or project. There is so much architecture, design, and interiors that I love. What I think is important is making a home the best it can be and highlighting its best features. Architecture and good art also inspire me a lot when I am designing interiors.

Favourite spots to shop

I have a special gift when it comes to shopping and sourcing products, there is nothing I can’t find or freight!

For this home, I wanted a particular bathroom line that was never really stocked in New Zealand and had been discontinued globally, so I had to ship the items from wherever I could find the last pieces, including Poland, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, the USA, and Italy.

Our huge bed is something I had always wanted – beautiful and timeless – and came from Italy via Studio Italia. Our dining table is from my favourite local store, Thomas’s. I love shopping with Sarah, she’s such a breath of fresh air and so good to deal with.

Our favourite reclining chairs are NZ-made by Kadima. We’ve had them for decades; we just changed the leather from black to white when we designed this house.

I do like a bit of shopping at Freedom, Kmart, Superette, Ballantynes, Simon James, ECC, Citta, and some other online stores. I love window shopping and seeking inspiration from stores like Matisse, Mr Bigglesworthy, and Webbs – they have amazing stuff that really gets my creativity going. I also like to modify things when I can’t find what I want.

I would never part with…

Honestly, it’s just stuff. We’ve lived in a hangar, on our own launch in Wellington Harbour, a caravan, and a portacom when we were building – maybe that’s where my minimalism comes from. But I don’t really feel tied to possessions. So long as I have hubby and my dogs, I am happy.

Next on the list

An outdoor chair from Ico Traders, some beautiful round rugs from Wilson & Dorset, and if I’m lucky and save enough, hopefully a beautiful work from Max Gimblett that I’ve wanted for years. Fingers crossed it hasn’t sold!

If money wasn’t an object…

We would get another aircraft, of course – probably a B25 bomber or P51 Mustang. Although fitting the B25 into our current hangar would be problematic, so that would need to be increased in size.

The other item would be a fabulous pool for keeping cool in our hot Marlborough summers.

A day to refresh

I would do a thorough clean – every surface, every nook and cranny. Although it would probably take longer than a day.

Something I’d change

The home isn’t actually finished. I have further interior enhancements to do and some final furnishings to source. Since Covid we have changed how we live, so will probably be building another wing onto the home to cater for family.

Keeping it orderly

I think order is up to whomever lives in the home. Not everyone likes order, some people like a bit of busy. Your home is your sanctuary, you live in a way that makes you happy. Forget about what others think. For us, we love order, and everything has its place. This is probably the aviation/systems side coming through.

Our neighbourhood

Living here is truly special. Omaka is one of New Zealand’s premier airfields, full of clever people doing and flying some amazing stuff. It’s home to Marlborough Aero Club, one of the country’s oldest aero clubs, and the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, a world-class museum and the host of the biennial Classic Fighters airshow. Living here is living in our happy place. We also love that it is rural but only 4km to Blenheim’s CBD.

Best memory at home

The day the RNZAF arrived in an NH90 helicopter on our taxiway in front of our living area. We spent the next few days with them flying in formation with “Foxy,” our De Havilland Fox Moth, reenacting the Centenary of the First Crossing of Cook Strait. An amazing few days and one of most memorable things I have ever done. We were very lucky to have had that opportunity.