Ngahere

74 Mountain Road and Rockwood Place, Epsom, AUCKLAND

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Situated in Mountain Road, Epsom, Ngahere is an Edwardian timber residence designed by noted Auckland Arts and Crafts architect Noel Bamford (1881-1952). Constructed in circa 1907-8, the house has a distinctive butterfly floor plan and is a significant example of the adaptation of English Domestic Revival style architecture to a New Zealand context. The dwelling, one of Bamford's earliest known surviving works, was the first of two commissions undertaken for wealthy heiress Jeannie Stirling Richmond (1854-1917) for construction on her Rockwood estate. Located at the junction of Mountain Road and Rockwood Place, Ngahere lies to the northeast of Mt Eden (Maungawhau), the site of a pa with a long history of human occupation. Following Auckland's founding as colonial capital in 1840, the substantial Rockwood estate was established on the town's suburban fringe in the 1860s by Richmond's uncle, successful real estate agent and investor William Aitken (1826-1901). Jeannie's late husband, John Richmond (1845-1886), was a founder of Auckland law firm Hesketh Richmond. Ngahere was built as the matrimonial home of Jeannie Richmond's daughter Margaret MacCormick (1884-1972), who married in 1907. Like other dwellings designed by Bamford and his later architectural partnership with Hector Pierce (1879-1918), the timber-framed and clad house reflected the rural-inspired English Arts and Crafts movement. The movement addressed dual concerns of status and beauty - issues of importance to well-to-do Edwardians - and appealed to those in New Zealand who saw themselves as building a new Britain. Ngahere's complex low-sweeping roof, steep gables, tall brick chimneys and multi-paned casement windows reflect the influence of eminent English architect Edwin Lutyens under whom four New Zealand-born architects including Bamford and Pierce studied. The first of the four to set up practice in New Zealand, Bamford's use of the butterfly floor plan represented a major departure from the predominant house style of the time: the villa with its characteristic central passageway. Internally, Ngahere's residential activities were compartmentalised into two main wings adjoining the hub of the house which contained the reception rooms, and were served by broad corridors facilitating easy circulation and enhancing perceptions of space and simplicity. The centrally located drawing room opened onto a porch or outside room enabling a degree of indoor-outdoor flow later considered integral to the New Zealand lifestyle. A centrally-located attic accommodated a sewing room and a bedroom. A single-storey south wing contained two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a dressing room while the corresponding north wing housed the dining room and service area. A porch linked the kitchen to a single-storey utility building. The architectural partnership of Bamford and Pierce enjoyed strong family connections with sections of Auckland's social and professional elite. The practice was renowned for its residential works and several of its clients were office-holders in the Church of England and associated charitable boards. Commissions also arose from Hesketh Richmond connections. Others came from members of professions that prospered during Auckland's decades of economic growth in the early twentieth century. Nevertheless, the number of residences designed by Bamford and the practice was relatively small due to Pierce's 1916 military enlistment during the First World War (1914-1918) and subsequent death. Ngahere was subdivided from the Rockwood estate in 1923. By 1925, it was occupied by William Gummer, a notable architect who had also trained under Lutyens. Gummer oversaw several important architectural projects while in residence at Ngahere, including the nearby construction of his own house, Stoneways. Further subdivided into three lots in 1935, Ngahere remained in MacCormick ownership until 1962. By this time the internal layout had been modified to accommodate new ways of living. Subsequent alterations also included demolition of the connected outbuilding, and the addition of a family room, garaging and upstairs rooms with dormers. Nevertheless Ngahere's overall layout - incorporating dining room and kitchen activities in the north wing, central hub, north and south corridors, and south wing - is extant. Overall, the house retains its striking English Domestic Revival appearance. Ngahere has aesthetic significance for its visually interesting design including steep roof and gables, tall brick chimneys, small-paned windows, juxtaposed elevations, and simple interior detailing including a timber staircase with unusual newel posts. Ngahere has architectural significance as a notable Auckland example of Arts and Crafts-style domestic architecture, as a reflection of the influence of English architect Edwin Lutyens, as an example of the butterfly floor plan, and as one of a small body of works designed by Noel Bamford or the Bamford and Pierce architectural partnership. It has historical significance for its associations with William Gummer. The place has social significance for reflecting the importance of family ties in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century New Zealand society, and reflects social networks and family relationships among groups of professional people in early twentieth-century Auckland.

Ngahere | Joan McKenzie | 03/08/2009 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Ngahere. Gothic Revival influenced front door, looking east | Joan McKenzie | 03/08/2009 | NZ Historic Places Trust
Ngahere. Typical window fastenings | Joan McKenzie | 03/08/2009 | NZ Historic Places Trust

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

4501

Date Entered

4th April 2010

Date of Effect

4th April 2010

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lot 1 DP 46839 (RT 271369), North Auckland Land District, and the building known as Ngahere thereon, and its fittings and fixtures. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 46839 (RT 271369), North Auckland Land District

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