This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is the original citation considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Information in square brackets indicates modifications made after the paper was considered by the NZHPT Board.
The discovery and settlement of the Wairarapa region is connected with several prominent figures of New Zealand’s history. Ancestral figures such as Hau-nui-a-nanaia, Kupe, Whatonga, Tara Ika and Toi have all been said to have connections with the region and are responsible for the naming of many of the Wairarapa’s important features and places. It has been estimated that Rangitane settled in the region by about the sixteenth century. Marriage links with Rangitane saw a group of Ngati Kahungunu retreat to the Wairarapa in the subsequent century as the result of internal hapu conflicts. The groups cohabitated mostly in the south Wairarapa for a period, but then the Ngati Kahungunu newcomers negotiated several sections of land for themselves. This process was not seamless and instances of conflict continued between the two iwi over the centuries. The next significant period of change in the area was in the early nineteenth century with the progression of Te Rauparaha and others. This ushered in an era when many different iwi, including Ngati Whatua, Ngati Awa, Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Tama, and Ngati Mutunga, made advances into the region and some Ngati Kahungunu hapu withdrew.
Several decades later European incursion into the Wairarapa began after the New Zealand Company’s Port Nicholson settlement was established. Based on the reports of the company’s exploring and surveying parties the southern Wairarapa became one of the first extensive tracts of land to be occupied by Europeans, although the Crown titles, negotiated by Donald McLean, were not obtained until 1853. However, it took substantially longer for settlement to progress beyond Masterton, which was linked to Wellington by road in 1859. Further incursion was slow because the northern Wairarapa was heavily forested. In particular, the forest north of Mount Bruce was dense with rimu, tawa, matai, maire, kahikatea, and rata, and was known as Forty Mile Bush, which was within the larger Seventy Mile Bush that also encompassed the area as far north as Dannevirke and Norsewood. Maori referred to this forest as Te Tapere Nui o Whatonga (The great forest of Whatonga) and an abundance of birdlife resided there amongst giant ancient trees, some of which were large enough for groups of local Maori to shelter within their trunks.
The forest acted as a significant barrier and therefore, while there was some European settlement in the northern Wairarapa before the late nineteenth century, it was not until roads were extended further and the railway link to Wellington established that the area was opened up for substantive settlement. In preparation for the construction of the railway the government had an active role in the foundation of several places in the Wairarapa and Tararua regions. Towns such as Mauriceville, Eketahuna, Norsewood, and Dannevirke were all initially formed as bases for railway labourers. Part of the preparation for the railway construction included building a road through the district which had progressed by the mid to late 1870s.
This increased, albeit rudimentary, access meant that land sales in the Pahiatua area earnestly began in the early 1880s. An initially slow sales market was boosted greatly by purchases made on behalf of Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930), who later went onto become British Prime Minister and Earl Balfour. In this way, when Pahiatua township was eventually established in 1881 it differed from most of the other settlements in the area because it was not created by the Crown, instead it resulted from private subdivisions of land. The site of Pahiatua had previously been a Maori village called Te Pohatu. It is thought that Pahiatua’s founder, Masterton nurseryman William Wilson McCardle (1844-1921), named the township after his friend and local Maori Chief, Koneke Pahiatua. Pahiatua, which means resting place, or camp, of the atua refers to a seventeenth century event when an atua rescued a Rangitane chief from invading forces to the south.
Once the private subdivisions were made, Pahiatua quickly emerged as a frontrunner to become the main service centre of the area, which attracted further settlement and businesses to the town. By the mid 1880s local tenacity meant that the burgeoning town of about 500 people had shops, a hotel, and a Road Board, but had been by-passed by the railway despite Main Street having been specifically made unusually wide to compensate for the potential railway line down its centre. Because it was a privately created town Pahiatua was slow to accrue many of the public facilities that were established comparatively early in other towns. However, the rapid growth of the town and wider area lead to the creation of the Pahiatua County Council in 1888 and the Pahiatua Borough in 1892.
It was during this period that George Harold Smith (1867-1936) relocated to Pahiatua. Smith was born in the southern Wairarapa just prior to the period when settlement was being pushed into the northern region. He was the second son of Major John Valentine Smith, who [had extensive land holdings including] Lansdowne Station near Masterton, and had briefly represented Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa in parliament in the late 1850s. The family seems to have been reasonably affluent and Smith was [educated in Nelson and] Wellington. [At school he] excelled in rugby and was [eventually] selected for the Wellington Province team. Smith then trained as a lawyer and started a legal practice in Patea in 1888.
Soon after, Smith moved to Pahiatua and made a name for himself locally as a lawyer and in 1893-94 became the town’s second mayor. [In the 1916 by-election Smith was elected Pahiatua's Member of Parliament, a position he held until 1919.] Although he was only mayor [and the local Member of parliament] for short terms, Smith continued to be involved in civic affairs in his role as legal advisor to the County Council, a position he maintained until his death in 1936. Smith resided in Pahiatua for over 40 years during which time he became a long-standing member of the Tararua Lodge of Freemasons, was president of the local golf club, and was also involved in community projects like the establishment of the local War Relief Association during World War One, for which he was secretary.
In 1902 Smith purchased adjoining properties on Riccarton and Tiraumea Roads. Then in 1909 and the 1920s a further three connecting sections were added to this complement. This meant that the combined property where the Smiths lived, just on the outskirts of Pahiatua, amounted to approximately 15 acres. The circumstances surrounding the construction of Kia Ora in 1934-35 were unfortunate for Smith. Kia Ora was necessary because Smith’s previous house burnt down apparently as the result of labourers using heat to prepare surfaces in the house which they were employed to paint. Although the house was not entirely destroyed by the fire the damage was sufficient enough to justify building a new residence in its place.
It may have been Smith’s close connection with the County Council who had recently employed C. Tilleard Natusch and Sons for their building which led him to approach the firm to design his replacement house. While the Natusch family’s architectural firm was based in Wellington and Napier, they were by no means unfamiliar with Pahiatua having lived there in the late nineteenth century before relocating to Napier. Charles Tilleard Natusch (1859-1951), who had made his reputation mostly through designing impressive domestic buildings, was semi-retired by the late 1920s and as such the work on the homestead would most likely have been undertaken by three of his sons, Stanley, Aleck, and René.
The designs for the large residence were completed in late 1934 and the contracts signed. However, Smith was only able to enjoy his new house for a short period because he died in 1936. After Smith’s estate was settled the property had several owners and the current house section was subdivided in 1957. The current owners took possession of the resulting five acre property in 1988. Because the new owners were not aware of the traditional name of the property, Kia Ora now has an alternative name, Nikatea, in reference to the farm they had previously owned before moving into Pahiatua.