Michael Mansvelt Design Ltd

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Michael Mansvelt Design Ltd Michael Mansvelt Design is a design firm specialising in landscape, interior and house design. Working in Wellington and Taranaki.

MMD is an all encompassing design firm specialising in Landscape, House & Interior design., we endevour in every situation to create living spaces with timeless beauty, elegance & style.

Mary and Ian are the kind of clients every garden designer hopes for, people who genuinely love plants and understand th...
08/10/2026

Mary and Ian are the kind of clients every garden designer hopes for, people who genuinely love plants and understand that the best gardens are never really finished.

I first met them around 15 years ago, while they were building their dream home beside the family farm. From the beginning, they wanted to create more than a beautiful garden. They wanted something their family could enjoy for generations.

The boomerang shape of the house became the starting point for the design. I created a strong central axis through the garden, with avenues of trees, dramatic vistas and individual spaces fanning out from the architecture.

Mary and Ian wanted a predominantly native garden, which gave me the opportunity to use some of our most magnificent native trees in a more formal way. Rimu form the central avenue, kauri stand like sentinels on the approach, while kōwhai, tī kōuka, pūriri and nīkau are planted in groves throughout the property.

I’ve always loved designing with trees because you have to imagine what they might become. Some of the decisions we made here will take decades to be fully realised, but more than a decade on, the garden already has a wonderful maturity and presence.

And it continues to evolve. As the trees have grown and created new areas of shade, we’ve introduced new layers of planting, including tree ferns and other shade-loving plants from Jungle Nurseries.
It’s one of the things I love about having the nursery, being able to grow, source and introduce plants as a garden changes over time.
Perhaps my favourite part is the outdoor lanai overlooking it all. With the fire lit, something cooking in the pizza oven and Mary serving one of her homemade treats, it is one of the most homely places on earth to be.
That’s what a legacy garden should be, something that grows alongside the people who live there.
📸. Gina Fabish

Some projects mean more than others. This is one of them.I’ve known Peter and Pauline for around 35 years. They gave me ...
06/10/2026

Some projects mean more than others. This is one of them.
I’ve known Peter and Pauline for around 35 years. They gave me one of my first gardening jobs, so to come back all these years later and reimagine the interiors of their much-loved family home felt incredibly special.
Built in the late 1980s overlooking the Huatoki Stream, the house already had beautiful proportions and some wonderful original details. I never wanted to erase its history. The challenge was to take what was already good and make it feel warmer, richer and more connected to the landscape outside.
The circular living room became the heart of the design. We responded to the geometry of the original window with curved seating, a recessed circular ceiling, fluted timber and a sculptural central light, creating an intimate room within the much larger space.
And, as I so often do, I looked to the garden.
Native tree ferns inspired the fluted walnut used throughout the interior. Pounamu greens reference the surrounding bush, while travertine brings in the gold and autumnal tones of the evening light.
We kept many of the home’s original elements too, including its wonderful curved kitchen, choosing to rework rather than replace wherever we could.
Good design doesn’t always mean starting again. Sometimes it’s about recognising what already belongs and knowing how to make it sing.
For me, Huatoki House captures so much of what Everyday Opulence means, warmth, texture, nature, personality and a home that feels genuinely loved.
The greatest compliment would be for someone to walk in and never quite know where the original house ends and the new work begins.
As though it had always been this way.
📸. Gina Fabish

Proud to see this beautiful coastal project featured in Live Magazine.The landscape was designed to continue the archite...
05/10/2026

Proud to see this beautiful coastal project featured in Live Magazine.

The landscape was designed to continue the architecture beyond the walls , carrying its strong lines into the land, then softening them with planting that responds to the coastal environment.
Every plant used in the landscape was grown and supplied by our team at Jungle Nurseries, bringing the design and planting together from one place.
A special project, and lovely to see its story shared.

Andre had been collecting beautiful things long before I came along.As a child, he spent hours with his father exploring...
24/09/2026

Andre had been collecting beautiful things long before I came along.

As a child, he spent hours with his father exploring markets, garage sales and antique stores, developing an eye for objects that were interesting, beautifully made and, most importantly, brought him joy.

So when we’d been dating for several months and I still hadn’t been invited into his Wellington apartment, I started to wonder why.

Eventually he confessed.

He’d been Googling my work and was terrified I’d walk through the door and start critiquing everything.

When I was finally allowed in, the opposite happened. I found this wonderful, character-filled oasis, years of collecting and surrounding himself with things he loved. It was comfortable, interesting, unpredictable and completely Andre.

A story of a life well lived, told through a home.

Of course, being me, I eventually suggested we move one or two things. What followed wasn’t a redesign. Over the next couple of years, Andre and I simply edited together, moving furniture, hanging art, taking things away, adding others and allowing the apartment to evolve.
Andre had spent years looking at fashion and interiors and understood instinctively the difference between something timeless and something simply on trend. My role was often just helping him find the relationships between the things he already loved.

And perhaps that’s why this little apartment captures Everyday Opulence so beautifully.
It was never about how much something cost, or creating something perfect.

It was about a man who had spent a lifetime collecting things that brought him joy, and creating a home that told his story.

For me, that’s what a home should do.

Nestled between Mt Taranaki and the Tasman Sea, St Georges By the Sea is a luxury country oasis created around one simpl...
22/09/2026

Nestled between Mt Taranaki and the Tasman Sea, St Georges By the Sea is a luxury country oasis created around one simple idea, bringing people together.

Now a 10-room boutique retreat, I’ve had the privilege of being part of the story of this extraordinary property for many years. My relationship with St Georges began almost by chance, when Linda breezed into my store one summer morning and made a beeline for a William Morris botanical tapestry I’d almost decided was too beautiful to sell.

I immediately liked her.

What began with helping Linda and Ed select a few pieces eventually grew into redesigning the interiors of their guest house and, ultimately, much of this remarkable home.

The architecture was already beautiful. My role was to make the interiors feel more connected to the people who lived here and the landscape surrounding them.

So, as I so often do, I looked outside.

The blues and greens of the coast became our palette. Natural grasscloth referenced the seagrass on the dunes. Aged leather, botanical textiles, pattern, timber, original art and unexpected contemporary pieces were layered together to create rooms that feel collected rather than decorated.

There are so many of my design signatures here: nature leading the palette, texture and pattern, old sitting comfortably alongside new, rooms with personality, and always an element of surprise.

For me, that is

A home doesn’t need to be precious to feel luxurious. It needs to make you feel something.

And perhaps that’s what I love most about St Georges by the Sea. Despite its scale and grandeur, it was never created simply to be admired. It was created for people, for gathering, entertaining, relaxing and enjoying this remarkable part of the world.

A place to be lived in, shared and enjoyed.


📸. Gina Fabish

When I purchased Jungle Nurseries , there really wasn’t much of a jungle at all.There was gravel, fences and shade cloth...
18/09/2026

When I purchased Jungle Nurseries , there really wasn’t much of a jungle at all.
There was gravel, fences and shade cloth as far as the eye could see, and basically not a plant left on the nearly two-acre site, and these enormous empty greenhouses just waiting for me to fill them.

Then Covid arrived, and I decided it was probably time to stop sulking about what I’d bought and start planting it.

That first year, more than 2,000 palms, subtropicals, deciduous trees and natives went into the ground. With about 80% of the nursery covered in gravel and stones, we were basically planting driveways.

And look at it now.

Trees have formed canopies, orchids and bromeliads are finding their way into branches, fountains are disappearing beneath plants. I’ve probably squeezed far more in than anyone sensible would.

But I love it.

This year, as part of the Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival , we’re introducing our Jungle Discovery Trail, through the Border Garden, Woodland Garden and Green Garden, and into the greenhouse and growing areas.

I want people to wander.

See plants growing together. Look underneath things. Notice the combinations. Find something you wouldn’t normally choose and think, actually, I could do that at home.

And if you fall in love with something, chances are we grow it here too.

After more than 30 years of designing gardens, Jungle has become a living, growing portfolio of my work. It’s where I experiment, propagate, move things around, change my mind and generally indulge my obsession with plants.

And for me, that’s Everyday Opulence.

It doesn’t have to be grand or perfect. It’s surrounding yourself with things you love, finding beauty in the everyday and actually taking the time to enjoy it.

If you haven’t visited Jungle yet, come and have a wander. Jungle is open seven days a week during Spring.


📸. Gina Fabish & KOWHAI + THISTLE

I’d never actually designed a house for anyone other than myself.That didn’t stop me telling Harvey and Kaye that I knew...
17/09/2026

I’d never actually designed a house for anyone other than myself.

That didn’t stop me telling Harvey and Kaye that I knew exactly what they should build. They’d bought one of the best coastal sites in town and had spent several years wondering what to do with it. I knew them through mutual friends and, probably with more confidence than I deserved, I said:

“I know exactly the house that site deserves.”

By that afternoon, Harvey and his daughter Jane were sitting in my office looking at my first sketch.
Fortunately, they took a leap of faith on me.

Looking back, this house probably established many of the design signatures that still find their way into my work today.
I wanted the house to belong to the coast, not compete with it. To feel solid enough to withstand everything our coastline throws at it, but still open, light and connected to the landscape.

Stone, cedar, concrete, glass and timber did a lot of the work.

Inside, the beach gave us the palette. Polished concrete reminiscent of wet black sand, warm timber picking up the colours of driftwood, and green glass inspired by those little pieces of sea glass you find washed up along the shore.

But I’ve never believed a modern house needs to feel like a showroom. Give me art, books, plants, objects collected over a lifetime and things that actually mean something to the people who live there.

Harvey and Kaye have done exactly that.

Over the years the walls have filled, the plants have grown and the house has sprung to life. And I love it all the more for that.

More than a decade later, it somehow feels contemporary and as though it has always belonged here.

Warmth. Texture. Nature. Light. Timelessness. Connection.

They’re the things I come back to again and again in my work. Not because they’re a formula, but because they create homes that feel good to live in.

And for me, that’s Everyday Opulence.

Some houses just have joy in them. This is one of those houses. Karen had always dreamed of living in an old, character-...
14/09/2026

Some houses just have joy in them. This is one of those houses. Karen had always dreamed of living in an old, character-filled home. Ironically, being married to a visionary builder meant she’d spent much of her life living in new builds, so when she and Martin bought this seaside cottage, she finally got her wish.

I already knew the house well. Years earlier I’d worked on the pool and gardens, bringing in natural stone, glass mosaics and some fairly substantial palms to create a lush little oasis just a stone’s throw from the ocean.

Karen also happened to work with me in my store and had a habit of falling in love with things as they arrived.

“I’m having that. Take it off my earnings!”

So by the time they bought the house, she’d collected this wonderfully eclectic mix of antiques, classic pieces and things she simply loved. The challenge was making all of it belong together.

Grasscloth wallpaper changed everything. Then came the navy, golds, chocolate brown, pinstripes, plaid wool, beautiful old timber and plenty of comfortable places to sit. Nothing too precious. Nothing trying too hard.

And that really sums up this house.
It’s a home for long dinners, grandchildren taking over the upstairs, books by the fire, drinks from the Deco cabinet and afternoons around the pool.

Everything invites you to sit, relax and enjoy.

And for me, that’s Everyday Opulence.
A home doesn’t need to be precious to feel luxurious. It needs to make you feel something.

Address

57 Colson Road
New Plymouth
4372

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+6467695189

Website

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