Highden

220 Green Road, Awahuri, PALMERSTON NORTH

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Highden, located south of Awahuri amid farmland and surrounded by localised native bush, is one of the grandest manor houses in the Manawatu. Completed circa 1897, Highden was originally designed by Frederick de Jersey Clere (1856-1952) as the country estate of W.W. Johnston (1839-1907), parliamentarian and prominent Wellington businessman, but for the majority of the twentieth century the property served as a Marist Novitiate. Like many places in the Rangitikei-Manawatu Block, the land on which Highden was later built was subject to a protracted period of negotiation and protest in the 1860s and 1870s. However, the property had several European owners before Johnston, the first Member of Parliament for Manawatu, began farming it in 1888, and then commissioned the esteemed Wellington architectural firm Clere, Richmond and Fitzgerald to design a lavish residence which was called Highden. Cecilia Johnston continued to live there after her husband's death and she engaged Charles Tilleard Natusch (1859-1952) to design major additions. Cecilia was from a staunchly Catholic family and she was active within this community. As such, it was appropriate that after her death in 1922 the residence was sold to the Society of Mary to function as a Novitiate. The Marist order is intimately connected with the establishment and development of Catholicism in New Zealand and the Highden Novitiate allowed them to continue their work because it was a place for housing and training novices, a key step in becoming a Marist priest or brother. The Marists occupied Highden until 1990 when the maintenance of the site and declining numbers of novices made continuing there untenable. After the Society sold the property it changed hands several times and was used as a function and accommodation venue, as well as a school and alternative medicine clinic. The main residence of Highden is an imposingly and elongated double-storey timber building that demonstrates remarkable design skill and craftsmanship, and features groupings of gables with decorative cladding, deep verandahs, and whimsical aspects, such as a turret. This is a Queen Anne style building which also incorporates aspects from other popular styles, an approach to domestic architecture which was common at the time in New Zealand. Highden has high integrity because it has undergone few major changes subsequent to the Natusch extension in 1908, although buildings and structures were added to the property by the Society of Mary throughout their occupancy. These simple auxiliary buildings, including the Chapel and Accommodation Block, document the changing use of the property and have a sober design that reflected their purpose, and contrast with the flamboyancies of the main house. Highden is a residence of outstanding merit and is the result of work by two of New Zealand's leading late nineteenth and early twentieth century architects, Clere and Natusch. Highden is a landmark property within the Manawatu, and its grandeur is indicative of the high social status of its original owners, the Johnstons. The compliment of buildings and structures at Highden is a remnant of the Society of Mary's use of the site, which is also indicative of changes Catholicism underwent in the twentieth century.

Highden, Palmerston North. Image courtesy of owner Avril Druker, Highden Manor Estate 2016 | Christine Fletcher | Avril Druker
Highden, Palmerston North. South west facade. Image courtesy of owner Avril Druker, Highden Manor Estate 2016 | Christine Fletcher | Avril Druker
Highden, Palmerston North. Reception room. Image courtesy of owner Avril Druker, Highden Manor Estate 2016 | Christine Fletcher | Avril Druker

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

1190

Date Entered

4th April 2010

Date of Effect

4th April 2010

City/District Council

Manawatū District

Region

Horizons (Manawatū-Whanganui) Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes part of the land described as Lot 1 DP 69619 (RT WN9738), Wellington Land District and the buildings and structures known as Highden thereon, and their fittings and fixtures. The extent includes the main residence, Chapel, Accommodation Block, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the statue of the Good Shepherd. The extent excludes utility buildings such as the large sheds to the south and southeast of the main residence and the timber building north of the Accommodation Block, as well as the former Highden Novitiate Recreation Hall (now a residence). (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 69619 (RT WN9738), Wellington Land District

Location Description

When travelling north-west from Palmerston North along State Highway 3, pass through the township of Awahuri. A well signposted intersection immediately after Awahuri demarks the point where to turn south-west into Green Road. The entrance to Highden is situated prior to the intersection of Green and Taipo Road. The entrance is on the north-west side of Green Road and is indicated by a large masonry gateway which also displays the place name, and also a yellow place sign on the opposite side of that road.

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