Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4410
Date Entered
11th November 1989
Date of Effect
11th November 1989
City/District Council
Hastings District
Region
Hawke's Bay Region
Legal description
Pt Lot 2 DP7045 (RT HB99501), Hawkes Bay Land District
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
4410
Date Entered
11th November 1989
Date of Effect
11th November 1989
City/District Council
Hastings District
Region
Hawke's Bay Region
Legal description
Pt Lot 2 DP7045 (RT HB99501), Hawkes Bay Land District
Historic Significance
Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. The historical significance of Arden lies in its associations with the Chambers family of Havelock North. Arden was built for Maurice Stirling Chambers, the third son of Thomas Mason Chambers. Maurice was a farmer and had bought the station Tauroa from his father in February 1918. As well as farming Tauroa he managed Kopanga, (his brother Selwyn's property) for Selwyn's widow and son. In 1919 Maurice married Mirima Bartley and they moved into Kopanga living there until Arden was built in 1926. Arden is part of the Chambers family history and is linked to the other Chambers family houses. These have a common family growth and inter-relationship.
Physical Significance
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Arden is one of four large country houses designed by Gummer in the Havelock North area over a period of twenty years from 1916. These houses, collectively and singularly, make a significant contribution to the history of architectural design in New Zealand. Gummers familiarity with a wide range of styles was exhibited in these houses and they were each quite different. Arden, a relatively formal design with a symmetrical facade, exhibits both the architect's case with the stripped Classical style and the consistent use of superior materials and workmanship. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK SIGNIFICANCE: From a distance Arden Lodge with its white stucco exterior makes a strong visual statement amidst the rolling hills that surround the property. From close it is also an impressive sight.
Construction Professional
Biography
The architectural partnership of Gummer and Ford was established in 1923, and became one of national importance. William Henry Gummer (1884-1966) was articled to W.A. Holman, an Auckland architect, and was elected as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1910. In the period 1908-1913 he travelled in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. During this time he worked for Sir Edwin Lutyens, leading English architect of the time, and for Daniel Burnham in Chicago. Burnham was a major American architect and one of the founders of the influential Chicago School of Architecture. Gummer joined the firm of Hoggard and Prouse of Auckland and Wellington in 1913. In 1914 he was elected a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, was president of the Institute from 1933-34 and was later elected a life member. Charles Reginald Ford (1880- 1972) was born in England and served in the Royal Navy. He was later with Captain Scott's 1901-1904 expedition to Antarctica. He trained as an architect working in Wanganui as an engineer. In 1926 he wrote the first treatise on earthquake and building construction in the English language. Ford was president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects from 1921-22. Buildings designed by the partnership include the State Insurance Building Wellington, (1940) the Dilworth Building (1926), the Guardian Trust Building and the Domain Wintergardens (1921 and 1928), all in Auckland, and the Dominion Museum (1936) in Wellington. Gummer and Ford were awarded Gold Medals from the New Zealand Institute of Architects for the designs of Auckland Railway Station and Remuera Library. Gummer was one of the most outstanding architects working in New Zealand in the first half of this century and was responsible for the stylistically and structurally advanced Tauroa (1916), Craggy Range (1919), Arden (1926), and Te Mata (1935) homesteads at Havelock North.
Name
Gummer & Ford
Type
Architectural Partnership
Construction Details
Start Year
1926
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
Arden is principally constructed of reinforced concrete and brickwork. There is a reinforced concrete first floor and roof slab with a bituminous covering. At ground floor level the majority of the floor timber is jarrah with the exception of the hall entrance and one or two small rooms in the staff accommodation area. The joinery is totara. Both exterior and interior brick and concrete walls, partitions and ceilings have a plaster finish.
Notable Features
The 'Juliet' balcony
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. This report includes the text from the original Building Classification Committee report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION (STYLE): Arden Lodge is an impressive two storeyed house built in a Stripped Classical style. The white stucco finish, balconies and arches convey an Italianate/Mediterranean feeling to the design. The house is enhanced by very fine detailing incorporating the roundheaded windows. Other notable features of the house include the totara staircase on the first landing, opposite which is a finely detailed 'Juliet' balcony. Between the balusters is a distinctive geometric design which reappears elsewhere in the house and is also a feature of the upper portion of the main facade. Another unusual detail of Arden are the semi-circular fanlights over the French doors which open out from the sunroom onto the terrace. MODIFICATIONS: In 1985-86 a number of additions and alterations were carried out for Mr and Mrs R. Lowe, then owners of Arden Lodge. On the ground floor a Porte Cochere was built in the Gummer style. A new kitchen and servery was built and a hole cut in the wall between these rooms. The original washhouse and workshop was converted into a guest suite and some windows were altered to a terrace door. The enclosed double garage was altered into a full sized billiard room. On the first floor four guest bedrooms were designed within existing rooms with their own bathrooms and sitting area.
Completion Date
4th April 1989
Information Sources
Dominion
Dominion, 16 Jul 1915, p. 9.
Shanahan, 1983
Kieran J Shanahan, The Work of William H. Gummer, Architect, Thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1983
Grant, 1978
SW Grant, Havelock North: From Village to Borough 1860-1952, Central Hawkes Bay Printers/Publishers 1978
Grant, 1980
SW Grant, In Other Days: A History of the Chambers Family of Te Mata, Havelock North, Hawkes Bay Newspapers Limited, 1980
New Zealand Architect
New Zealand Architect
Hill, 1976
M Hill, New Zealand Architecture, NZ Architectural School Publications 1976
Herald Tribune
Herald Tribune
Report Written By
A copy of this report is available from the NZHPT Central region office Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.
Current Usages
Uses: Accommodation
Specific Usage: House
Former Usages
General Usage:: Accommodation
Specific Usage: Boarding/ Guest House