Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. History: This large Waimate homestead was built in 1894 for Alpheus and Anna Hayes, French-Canadian born capitalists who had migrated to South Canterbury in 1871. The house typifies the lifestyle enjoyed by the small South Island rural elite in the later stages of the colonial era.

Physical Significance

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Aesthetic: The house has a picturesque setting of native and English trees, nestled in an extensive garden of five acres which has been continuously developed since the 1890s. The house and garden form an integrated setting and together present a pleasing picture of the leisured country life of well-off Cantabrians of the last century. Architectural: This large brick house has been designed in a plain version of Victorian Rustic Gothic and was built in 1894. The architect, Maurice Duval, was French. The building's features are symmetrically arranged on the three principal facades, with steep-pitched gables, finials, prominent decorated barge boards quoining, and deep set square-headed bay windows.

Detail Of Assessed Criteria

This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. The following text is from the original Recommendation for Classification report considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. (b) The association of the place with events, persons or ideas of importance in New Zealand history: Alpheus Hayes is a figure of some significance to South Canterbury history. He was a prominent sawmiller until the great Waimate Bush fire of 1878, one of the major fires in New Zealand's colonial history. Centrewood is associated with the lifestyle enjoyed by the small South Island rural elite in the later stages of the colonial era. g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place: This large brick house was designed by a French architect, Maurice Duval, and completed in 1894. The house is symmetrical on three facades, with steep-pitched gables, finials, prominent barge boards, quoining, iron lace-work and deep-set bay windows. The interior walls are constructed of double brick, the exterior of triple brick, mainly stretcher bond. The house has a corrugated iron roof. There is a straight verandah on the west facade, on the south side the verandah is a continuation of the roof. The style of the house is a plain version of Victorian Rustic Gothic. Conclusion: Centrewood Homestead is recommended for registration as a Category II, as a place of historical and cultural heritage significance and value. The house and five acre garden form a picturesque setting, with English and native trees, an artificial lake, formal rose gardens, expanses of lawn and paddock, and glasshouses.