ARCHITECTURE

   in NEW ZEALAND

  Old house & the others
  1860-1900 

from NEW ZEALAND ARCHITECTURE By Peter Shaw.  

 

The Kemp House
    kerikeri, Bay of Island/1818-21

 A skillion roof built in the 1830s to enable the addition of more rooms at the back of the house did not disturb its Georgian simplicity. The house was to be provided whit such typically Georgian refinements as pilasters, fanlights, six-panel doors and framed shutters. Right picture shown near the oldest Stone Stroe.

 

Waimate Mission House
     Waimate North, South Island/1830


 

 Built by Maori carpenters to plans by the missionary George Clarke who had been trained as a carpenter at an early age, the Mission House was in 1842 the home of George Augustus Selwyn, New Zealand's first Anglican bishop. The design shows Maori influence in the roof style.

 

Stone Store
    Kerikeri, Bay of Island/1832-36

 
 

  Oldest stone building a well-proportioned rectangular structure with walls of local basalt rubble from the banks of the Kerikeri River. although its arch stone, quoins and sills are of imported Sydney sandstone. It was received from New Wales in rough from and was also shaped on site,to the designs of George Clarke, a lay missionary who had building experience. The three hipped dormer windows are further evidence of the persistent Georgianism of the country's earliest builders.

 

The Treaty House
    Waitangi, Bay of Island/1833

 Plans for this house were revised by Ambrose Hallen from original by Sydney architect, John Verge in 1833. A prefabricated house, its numbered parts were shipped from Sydney to become the home for James Busby, British Resident in NZ. The Treat of Waitangi was signed on the front lawn of the Treat House on 6 February 1840. Viscount Bledisloe, formerly Sir Charles(1876-1958), was governor-general of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935, bought the old British Residence near Waitangi and presented it to the people of New Zealand in 1933. Plans for this house were revised by Ambrose Hallen from originals by Sydney architect, John Verge. A prefabricated house, its numbered parts were shipped from Sydney to become the home for James Busby. New Zealand's most-visited historic building, began life in 1833 as British Resident James Busby's house. By the time that Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and his wife bought the house for the nation a hundred years later, it was very run-down. The new Waitangi National Trust Board hired leading architects William Gummer and William Page to restore the place. 

 

Pompallier House
    Russell, Bay of Island/1841


 

 It is the oldest building associated with the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand, was never a bishop's residence. In its early years it did not have the now familiar diagonally braced verandah; this attractive feature was added in the 1870s when the owner, James Greenway, transformed the building into a home. Nor was there an upper verandah, although  French brothers did project the roof line, supporting it on posts as protection for the thick pise walls. French Marist brothers, under the supervision of architect and lay missionary Louis Perret, built this large house with outer walls of pise de terre. The upper cross-braced verandah decoration is a much later addition which is to be removed as conservation architect continue the restoration of the house.

 

Katheine Mansfield Birthhouse
   25 Tinakori Road, Wellington/1887

 

 This simple, Italianate-style was built in 1887, a time of depression in New Zealand. The architect is unknown, but it was constructed for Harold Beauchamp. Katherine was born here on 4 October 1888, and lived in the house for the following 5 years. Some of her childhood memories from here were recorded in her stories. Photo by Byunguh Yu on 2000.