It covers 7400 sq.m. (80,000 sq.ft.) and sits in 13.45 hectares - once part of the Wellington town belt. It has 37 bedrooms and 17 bathroqms. It is home to the Governor General and his family. Over the last five years it has undergone a substantial facelift, making it structurally more appropriate and aesthetically more pleasing. Inspired by Lady Beattie and a design team of three (whose collective taste is clearly impeccable) it is today, every inch the Vice Regal residence.

Lady Beattie's impeccable taste in colour and design was instrumental in having the house look today — every inch the Vice-Regal residence.

A small chest of drawers in the Vice-Regal bedroom provides a place for photos in old frames.

The Vice-Regal bedroom has been completely redone. The curtains are toile sepia on cream and frame a large window that overlooks the sweep of the lawn.

Lace cushions handstitched by Lady Beattie herself.

Lady Beattie's dressing room where Indian silk curtains frame a view of the garden.

Government House, home to the Governor-General and his family, is a large house by anyone's standard. It covers 7400 sq.m. (80,000 sq.ft.) to be exact and sits in 13.45 hectares of grounds which were once part of the Wellington town belt. Only the "bobby" swinging on the gate distinguishes the driveway from other private homes. Nine staff houses are dotted around although theirs is not quite in the style of John Campbell, who as Government architect designed the house in 1910. We don't know what restrictions would have been put on him in those days, but it is safe to assume the keepers of the purse strings would have been dancing up and down exhorting him to cut costs. Nothing changes.

Government House is owned by the Crown and maintenance and refurbishing is the specific responsibility of the Ministry of Works. The Prime Minister must approve all expenditure.

From the floor plan it appears to have 37 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. The task of keeping the house running is enormous, never more so than when Royal visitors are using some of those rooms.

A house that has a change of occupancy every five years has a special problem. In earlier days, Governors General were English, leaving behind stately homes and bringing most of their own furniture. Some sought to redecorate; others were happy to live in the house as it was and not cause undue expense. In the event, the house was kept in good order but interior decoration had been done piecemeal, with furniture, curtains and paintings decidedly unrelated.

The day of reckoning came with the arrival of Sir David Beattie and Lady Beattie. On taking up residence in 1980, they decided the house had hidden potential. The MOW was asked to survey needed structural changes and the refurnishing.

Structurally it was going to be a major job: improved offices for the staff, adding an extra entrance, installing a lift for the disabled, and aged, and redesigning the servery. The refurnishing though was of paramount importance.

Lady Beattie explains the problems inherent in running a large Government home: "The house when we came in was suffering acutely from a constant change of Mothers and Fathers. Although it was in a good state of repair it needed redecorating and co-ordinating. Predecessors had found the kitty empty and did what was absolutely necessary; Royal visits were always a good excuse to revamp a suite or a small painting job — but it hiccuped from one room to another."

Lady Beattie with assistance riffled through all the cupboards, nooks and crannies of the large house and found an amazing assortment of furniture — much of which was recovered, repaired and put to good use. A mother of seven is of necessity a shrewd housekeeper and Lady Beattie's impeccable taste in colour and design was instrumental in having the house look today — every inch the Vice-Regal residence.

So how did the Governor General's wife accomplish these changes, deemed to be monumental in 1980 when the plan was first mooted, and counter the cry of "no funds".

"We pressed the point that Government House needed to be brought up to standard not only for royal visitors and other VIP's but also for the community at large which we wanted to see using the house. We asked the MOW to present a brief to the Prime Minister which was realistic and could be accomplished reasonably during our five year stay."

"Our first priority was to warm the place up with colour," says Lady Beattie. "We had all the fireplaces opened up so the first impression visitors had when entering the House was the inviting warmth. The second priority was to decorate the main bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms upstairs as we were expecting Royal visitors and the suite was not sufficiently coordinated."

Bearing in mind that the colour scheme had to appeal to a wide range of people, including future Governors General, Lady Beattie got together with her design team to work out the solutions.

"They were marvellous and much of the credit must go to them in working within the tight budget and up against all sorts of imponderables. Dennis Walton is an interior decorator who has a wonderful sense of colour, Michael Lamb is now a consultant for a private firm of architects but formerly with the MOW and a talented friend Natalie Smith who "relates to me". They are known as Friends of The House or F.R.O.T.H.

She explains the limitations in such an undertaking: "It had to work on more than one level. It had to be practical and attractive without being too trendy or, worse, dateable. The interior decoration had to assume the character of the house and not dominate it…"

The colour chosen as a guideline was "fighting pink", as Lady Beattie puts it, myriad shades going from salmon pink in the ball room through to the terra cotta hues through to brick corals in the upstairs suites. A framed piece of silk embroidery worked by a Mrs Jeckyl — grandmother of Lady Freyberg was also a dominating influence. Floors were polished so rugs and furniture could be interchanged at a later date, and antique furniture was bought because of its constancy and lasting value.

Lady Beattie confesses to being "slightly yellow mad" but only in her private study (where a grandchild's pram is frequently housed) does she give into her passion with a wall full of fascinating paintings all meaning something to her personally and all predominantly yellow.

The conservatory was one of the major chores in the early days. The floor was concrete. The ceiling was ugly and dotted round were pongas and ferns whose only claim to fame was as a leafy green background for official photographs. Ceramic page 12were especially made for the floor and the same company made large pots to match, which they were, now bear shrubs and citrus trees. The ceiling was tented to hide the ugliness above; the conservatory is now the most used room in the house. Lunches, teas, drinks and chats are here all year round and it has a delightful Mediterranean flavour.

Curtains have been replaced and antique furniture installed in the small drawing room and main drawing room beside the conservatory. "We met great resistance with the curtains," says Lady Beattie with a wry grin. "The colours — ecru (cream) and charcoal ribboned — were extremely difficult to match with other things in the room. But we persisted and as you see they now look superb."

This room has some intriguing pieces of china nestling in a Chinese Queen Anne Cabinet, asked the origin of a piece, Lady Beattie is apt to say "round here it's beg, borrow or steal and many of them have been lent by friends."

The royal blue (but cold) carpet in the dining room was replaced by a soft rose pink carpet and the candelabra which Lady Beattie's team unearthed from a dusty cupboard and cleaned and reassembled is quite a talking piece. One of her young

The conservatory with its ceramic tiled floor and tented ceiling is the most used room in the house.

page 13visitors described it as "religious drip-free candles". The velvet curtains in this room were worn and replaced by glazed cotton chintz in an opium colour.

The Council Chamber where Sir David has many of his meetings has two momen-toes of note. On the table sits a piece of driftwood from Cockle Bay with two characters sitting inside paddling for dear life but with exaggerated long beaks. "A present from a Howick Club," explains Lady Beattie, "and made by a potter with a sense of humour who has given the lady creature a longer snout than the male!".

Hanging on the wall is a Maori Cloak made of kiwi feathers. "I was showing round a class from the Correspondence School and remarked the bald patch on the cloak saying it was in desperate need of more feathers. One week later I received an envelope with some kiwi feathers inside. One of the boys remembered what I had said and on finding a dead kiwi in a remote region had plucked some feathers and sent them 'to fix the Kiwi cloak'.

The Duke's suite bedroom with its huge Victorian bed has a living room adjacent for house guests to meet for a drink before dinner.

The interior decoration had to assume the character of the house and not dominate it.

The conservatory has a delightful Mediterranean flavour.

The photographer's eye was caught by the symmetry in this detail.

The ballroom's colours have been inspired by a Jacobean tapestry.

A delicate Sheraton two-seater and accompanying chairs sit in a corner of the ballroom with inlaid headpieces of musical instruments.

The ballroom, magnificent with its chandeliers, is yet to be completed.

An outside pagoda in the grounds

The Beatties did not confine their energies to the interior of Government House. In the last five years, more than 2,000 trees and shrubs have been planted.

The other major redecoration downstairs has been the ballroom. The throne chairs are dull gold, matching the carpet that runs the length of the room. Colours were inspired by a Jacobean tapestry — once a firescreen — hanging on a wall. But there is much to be completed. The curtains that fall beautifully from the high stud are not the real thing but linings — much admired though and waiting for the genuine article to be specially woven. A delicate Sheraton two-seater sits in a corner with an inlaid head piece of musical instruments. It is more often than not seen in the dining room where a harpist sits upon it and plays for dinner guests.

Upstairs changes wrought by the Beatties have been considerable. The Vice-Regal bedroom has been completely redone. The curtains are toile sepia on cream and frame a large window that overlooks the sweep of the lawn. Their bed was found by a friend in a London shop and the "linen press" and chest of drawers are antiques that especially appealed to Lady Beattie. The wall colourings in this room and the rooms adjoining follow the theme of pink beige, terracotta, coral and brick. The chaise longue displays many of Lady Beattie's lace cushions — she is interested in all manner of stitch work and is obviously an excellent craftswoman evidenced by the many superb cushions scattered around the house that she has made herself. The lace cushions came about because it was reported that "I stitch my stress away and people from all over New Zealand have sent me pieces of lace which as you can see I have made into these cushions. Some of the lace has come from Brussels."

Lady Beattie's dressing room has been refurnished and her bathroom is a dream. Any one taking a bath is afforded a magnificent view of the garden framed by the Indian silk curtains. The graffiti discovered by the carpenter under the wallpaper in the bathroom is not repeatable but Her Excellency is sure it was replaced before the new covering went on by 1980's version which will cause future Government House decorators to chuckle.

The "Duke's Suite" living room has also been extensively refurnished. Now it is an attractive place for house guests to meet for a drink before dinner, flop into a comfortable chair or sit quietly and read. Next door, the Duke's Suite bedroom and one is fascinated by the huge Victorian bed. The head and tail boards are ornately carved with a crown dominant.

In five years, it would be fair to say, the Beatties time has wrought astounding changes in the overall style of the house. Not that everything has been accomplished, much to their regret. But compared to what it was, it has been an extraordinary achievement. They have actively encouraged the community at large to come into the house and are proud of the fact that 20,000 people visited last year, ranging from school prefects and headmasters and headmistresses to sports groups, garden enthusiasts and the handicapped.

The Beatties are very generous in their praise of the dedicated staff, Froth, ladies in black (friends of the staff who help out with large functions), family who have had to stand in at short notice and, of course, the devoted "team of three" — Dennis, Natalie and Michael who have seen more colour charts, material samples, bolts of this and fragments of that, to glaze their eyes over for years to come. But after all their effort — so frenzied at times — they can only sympathise with Royal guests who so often are greeted by the smell of new paint.

Although structurally speaking Government House, with few exceptions, has remained the same — it would be fair to say the Beattie tenure has brought a distinct style into both Government Houses. "The fighting pinks" of the Beattie reign will thankfully grace the interior of the houses for a long time.