Our First Home experts Eva Nash and Sara Hartigan are used to being surrounded by noise. Lately, it’s been the sound of hammers banging and saws buzzing – both on the set of the TV One reality show, and in the individual homes they themselves have both recently renovated in Auckland. But today, as architect Eva (35) and property expert Sara (38) get ready for the Weekly photoshoot, an equally loud but much-preferred racket interrupts the silence – the sound of their gorgeous boys Nico (3) and Cooper (2). Over the boys’ excited yelling and giggling, the gorgeous mothers grin, both relishing a rare few hours in which they can spend time with their sons.
Between filming episodes for Our First Home on the weekend, running their successful businesses during the week and juggling childcare – not to mention the home renovations – labelling Eva and Sara’s lives as a balancing act seems an understatement. “I’m often described by my friends as the busiest person they know,” Eva, mum of Nico, says. “I’m always on the go.”
“Filming for the show has cut our weekends in half, so I only have Sunday to spend with my son Cooper,” Sara adds. “It’s quite mentally draining – and you still have to play wife, mother and cook when you get home. But I have a cleaner and she’s the most important person in my world right now!” Filming for the home renovation show starts each Saturday at 7.30am and often doesn’t finish until after 9pm, which has meant a big sacrifice in the time they both spend with their boys. Eva, who runs award-winning Rogan Nash Architects, says she’s blessed with flexible hours that allow her to be on call during the week for her son. Losing that day with Nico has “had a huge impact”.
Our First Home experts Sara and Eva have become fast friends from working on the hit show with host Goran Paladin and their shared experience of being working mothers.
“It’s really important for me to spend time with my son and husband,” she says referencing David (36), a DB Breweries supply chain manager. “He’s a committed family man and always makes sure that he starts early to be back in the afternoon, or begins later so he can spend the morning with Nico.”
For Sara, flexibility isn’t as easy. The property expert runs her own company and often sees clients in evenings and on Saturdays, so losing that extra day has meant a backlog of meetings. Like Eva, she also has a supportive husband, drain specialist Christian (35). Although he leaves for work at 5.30am each day, and is often not back until about 6.30pm, he picks up where she leaves off on the weekend.
“Chris has made Saturdays ‘Daddy Day’ and they do all the boys’ stuff. But when I drop Cooper off at daycare, he says, ‘Don’t leave me.’ I think he’s going through that attachment stage, and I have a heightened sensitivity to that because I’m not spending enough time with him.”
Mother and owner of a successful architecture firm, Eva is often described by her friends as the busiest person they know!
Much like the three teams on Our First Home, Eva and Sara also rely heavily on their extended family for back-up. Nico and Cooper spend one to two days with their grandmas, Marie and Pixie respectively. “It’s good for Cooper,” says Sara. “We get a bit of adult time and catch up on stuff, and she gets to do all those things with him that I don’t get time to do.”
These doting nanas were instrumental in supporting Eva and Sara when they were renovating their own houses. Eva’s bungalow had a complete overhaul and during the eight weeks in which the house was torn apart, Eva, David and Nico all stayed with her mum Marie. For Sara, the disruption during the $150,000 renovation of her home was minimal during the four weeks as it was organised in stages, but it certainly wasn’t easy with a then one-and-a half-year-old.
Sara says the key to being a working mother is having a supportive extended family and a house cleaner!
While filming for Our First Home has been an enjoyable learning experience, both Eva and Sara agree they’ll be happy to have their Saturdays back – although that may not last long for the new-found friends. In fact, the pair have agreed to lend their expert knowledge to help Our First Home host Goran Paladin transform his sleepout from a draughty man cave into a stylish living area. “We want the room to feel like it is an extension of the house, but with a modern twist on a New York apartment,” Sara explains.
And since their TV work has also led to a friendship between the two women, Sara and Eva plan on meeting up, kids in tow, in the weekends ahead. “We’ve got playdates booked in,” tells Eva. Sara adds, “Our sons are so close in age, we’re just going to jam them together until they love each other!”
Our First Homes airs Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 7.30pm on TV One.
