Mahoe is situated on a large flat section at a prominent corner on the outskirts of Feilding. Once, the pre-eminent spaces of the house looked out in the north east direction to the intersection of South Street and Aorangi Road. The house, stepped back slightly from the centre of the section, is nowadays screened from the road by the mature exotic and native trees. The drive enters the section at the corner, veers left, and winds around the large lawn, through the high and lush tree border to approach the house from the east side. Here, on the south-east side of the house, with a large asphalted forecourt in front, is a modest entrance to the house. Around the north corner is the extensive lawns and gardens at the north-east of the house. Further, on the north-west, a formal parterre and raised kitchen beds have been laid out between the house and the trees and boundary. On the south-west side are garages and utilities, a large turning area and border lawns and smaller trees.
Exterior
Mahoe is a moderately large two storey timber house, built a few steps up off the ground, with a broadly steep tiled roof. The style of the building shows influences of the revival in Tudor architecture in the nineteenth century, the use of materials of the Edwardian period, and the English cottage style in New Zealand. The house is irregularly shaped but can be seen to be based on an underlying rectangular plan form. The main roof gable runs north-west to south-east. Two secondary gables, one smaller, lead out on the north-east face. The northern most of these gables is an extension of the original. At ground level are many attachments to the main two storey form: a long lean-to at the front door; two small lean-tos on the east corner; verandahs on both the north-west and north-east elevations; and leant-tos (one hipped) at both levels on the south-west side. The effect of these adjuncts to the main structure is to soften the visual effects of what is otherwise a compact and upright form. Like the main expanse of the roof, originally the verandahs and the lean-tos were tiled. However, by 1993 these areas had corrugated iron roofing which was in need of replacement.
The vertical visual effect of the house is further increased by Tudor-style vertical timber board-&-batten cladding, creating a striking sight. The boards and battens are broad, and here have been painted in contrast which allows the patterns to be seen. Horizontal battens tie around the house at upper floor level and at upper window sill level. Further horizontal battens mark the window head level and the pronounced collar-tie line. The upper level floor (coinciding with the lean-to points of attachments) is further marked by additional mouldings and spouting. Below ground floor window sills horizontal lapped weatherboards skirt the house down to floor level, corners capped. Below, broad ventilating boards are set against the foundations, splayed. Around the early 1990s many of the wooden piles at the front of the house were replaced to stop subsidence. The roof exterior has several flues and one brick chimney.
All four facades of the house have an exterior doorway. The formal entrance, somewhat understated, is double-leaf timber doors with stained glass leadlighting with monogrammed panels referencing the initials of the original owners. The doorways on the north-west and north-east are positioned under the verandahs. On the south-west, a 'back door' leads out to the garage and utilities.
The placement of windows around the exterior shows attention to appearance. Generally, and especially on the north-east and north-west sides windows have been symmetrically or centrally placed. Windows are timber and predominantly double hung sash windows, clear glazed, singly or in groups of two or three, depending on the room within. The scale of the windows has been reduced beneath the verandahs and large multi-paned windows feature in spaces with a sunroom function.
The verandahs are similar but distinct. Both are similar in length, timber-lined with slender posts and a delicate shaping to their lintels. The north-east verandah is deep with additional internal bracketed posts, endwall glazing, two single doors to the interior, and solid matching timber balustrading to the wall cladding. The north-west verandah is half the depth, open ended, with its balustrading removed. A single door leads inside.
Ground Floor Interior
The ground floor interior contains living rooms and services rooms arranged for their purpose around a long hall and to take advantage of sunny aspects. Living rooms face north; the stairs and service rooms face towards the south. Walls and ceilings are plastered or timbered. Ceilings are simple fibrous plaster panels and timber battens, generally flat; scotias are modestly moulded. These are generally characteristic of Natusch's Tudor style houses and are an aspect which differs from many contemporary houses where mass produced plaster ceilings and other ornamental surfaces are common. Instead, Natusch extensively showcased the beauty of local native timbers in his interior linings. Timbers used in the house include matai, totara and rimu. The deep skirtings are simply bevelled. Joinery is generally clear-finished. Where flooring is uncarpeted the matai boards are polished. Doors are distinctively formed with vertical (lower) and symmetrical diagonal (upper) match lining.
Entrance Hall, Lobby and Study
The main entrance, through the stained glass panelled doors leads into a small painted board and batten lobby. A further leadlight panel door leads into the main Hall of the house. The Hall is divided into three sections by angular arches (a motif designed into the house originally and subsequently replicated in a few locations). The first section, just inside the front door, has plastered wall linings above a board and batten wainscot and a deep bevelled skirting. Immediately to the right is a small room presently used as a study where the Hall wall finishes continue. This section of the Hall is short and wide. Beyond, the Hall lengthens and narrows. In the second section, the walls are lined full height with board and batten. Doors lead to rooms left and right and a stairway rises to the left. In the distance the exterior door to the garaging end of the house allows light in.
Dining Room
From the timber-lined Hall, the first major room to be reached is left to the Dining Room. This is a large room with fireplace in an arched alcove at one end. At the other end three double hung sash windows are centred in the bay of the lean-to. An arched lintel forms an opening between the lean-to and the main body of the house. Two side windows face the south-west. The walls are plaster however a high level band of horizontal timber sarking runs around the room above the windows. The sarking is vertical where a chimney once stood. The fireplace alcove is deep and book lined. The fire surround is brick and tile with a timber mantelpiece. A modern fireplace is installed.
Living Room
Across the Hall is the double-door entrance to the Living Room, a room which structurally fits beneath the smaller secondary gable. It is a rectangular room with three bays. Two bays are situated within lean-tos - one facing northeast, the other facing northwest - incorporating a set of three double hung windows and single windows in the projecting lean-to sides. The third bay of the room is the fireplace alcove which is deeply recessed with a high timber mantelpiece over a tile and brick surround. The chimney is a solid form within the bay. The lintels over all three bays are delicately reinforced with curving timber trim and a window within the bay looks out under the verandah. All trim timber is similarly light, simple and (in this room) painted. A single door with a large leadlight panel leads onto the northeast verandah.
Stairway
The middle section of the Hall widens to incorporate the Stairway and access around under the Stairway to the Bathroom and Kitchen areas. The Stairway is a solidly timbered but simply detailed stair: timber board and batten panelling continues up the stair; handrails have an easily grasped tight curve; balusters are chamfered; stringers are undecorated and cantilevered. Newel posts feature at all changes of direction and are large, square with chamfered edges, and mitred newel cap that supports a melon-shaped timber ball. The curtail step is circular. Newel drops are bevelled to points.
Smoking Room
Further down the Hall, off to the right from the third section of the Hall, is the Smoking Room. This is a small living room that structurally fits beneath the larger secondary gable. Its walls are board and batten lined with a timber panelled ceiling. The fireplace is set at an angle and is timber lined with a timber mantelpiece. A leadlight-paned door and a single window face out to the lawn underneath the verandah. The three double-hung windows facing the parterre are recent replacements of smaller windows.
Flower Room & Maid's Room
Across the Hall from the Smoking Room (and past the leadlight door leading onto the verandah) is a recently-added opening, through what was once a small Flower Room. While the Flower Room is the smallest of spaces, the Maid's Room beyond (that it is now part of) is a generous northwest-facing living room with two single windows, a panelled ceiling and a fireplace in the style of the other fireplaces in the house. The chimney above is intact. All windows face out under the verandah to the northwest.
Kitchen
At the far end of the Maid's Room a door leads directly into the kitchen, an expansively long space that runs the length of the lean-to with both features of its original construction and recent joinery additions: openings are arched; walls and ceilings have been relined; original windows feature; other joinery and fittings are new. A high alcove no longer has a coal range but has a modern oven beneath the timber surround. The alcove backs onto the Fireplace in the Maid's Room.
Bathroom and Back Hall
Connecting the kitchen areas and the main Hall is a timber-lined Back Hall with a Bathroom. The Back Hall has a lower ceiling level corresponding to a half-level landing with two side rooms above but otherwise the finishes of the Hall are carried through to the Back Hall. The bathroom is a small room with new finishes and fittings and a south facing single window.
Bathrooms at the Mid-Stair Lobby
A third way up the stairs, three stairs lead away through an arched lintel to a board & batten Mid-Stair Lobby. The Lobby has the only decorative metal ceiling in the house, which may indicate it is a later addition. The Lobby also has windows facing south, and doors to three small rooms - two left and one right. Each is match-lined with a window. Trim timbers are minimal. All rooms are fitted for bathroom activities: to the left a shower room and a toilet; to the right a bathroom with a basin. The Bathrooms and Lobby all fit beneath the upper level lean-to.
Upper Level Interior
The upper level comprises a mid-level landing and bathrooms (on the south side) and the Upper Hall. Single doors lead to six bedrooms - different in shape, size, orientation and features. Their windows are generally large and with low sills, having been positioned for their exterior appearance. Doors follow the diagonal and vertical panelling motif. The rooms are match-lined and fit into the ceiling space. Horizontal ceiling sections correspond to rafter collar tie sections while the sloping ceilings follow the roof line. While most walls have been lined with plaster, ceiling boards are painted. Most rooms have original built-in joinery. Three have fireplaces similar in styling to ground floor fireplaces.
Upper Hall
From the mid-landing the stairway turns, rises and splays out to a large Upper Hall. Timber wainscoting lines a section of wall where cupboards have been removed however elsewhere the walls are full height board & batten. The ceiling is flat plaster. One set of cupboards remains.
The Green Bedroom & Sunroom
The largest of the bedrooms is the Green Bedroom. It is directly across from the stairway and occupies the smaller of the secondary gables. The two gable windows are large. Smaller side windows fit under the roof form. At one end of the room an alcove with an arched timber lintel houses an offset fireplace styled similarly to other fireplaces in the house. A window looks onto the next room. Alongside, and a step down, is a Sunroom set within the larger secondary gable. It has series of windows of long diamond-pattern leadlighting. At the far end is a large multi-paned window.
The Red Room & Pale Blue Room
To the right of the Green Bedroom (eastwards) are firstly the Pale Blue Room and the larger Red Room. These fit within the main gable at the east end of the house. Both have double windows. The Pale Blue Room has built-in furniture and the Red Room has the fire surround of a fireplace.
The Eggshell Blue Room, the Gold Room and the Steel Blue Room
To the left of the Green Bedroom (westwards) are three rooms facing out to the west garden parterre. They are smaller rooms and fit beneath the main gable at the west end. The Eggshell Blue Room has a single window over the parterre, two internal windows onto the Sunroom, and a fireplace with painted timber surround. The Gold Room has built-in joinery and a single window. The Steel Blue Room has a single window over looking the garden.
Comparative analysis
Natusch is considered the most prolific proponent of Tudor style domestic architecture in New Zealand and it is said to have reached its 'highest pitch' in his work. There are several examples on the NZHPT Register of historic places, including the grand and elegant homesteads, Matapiro Station Homestead and Maungaraupi Homestead. There is also a house in Gisborne which is of a similar scale to Mahoe and echoes the exterior forms of Matapiro and Maungaraupi.
However, these places differ to Mahoe which has been described as 'a decidedly rigid example of Elizabethianism' and a building which is 'compliantly plain and not given to frippery.' In this sense Mahoe is comparable with the house created for Colonel Gorton, Rangiatea. These residences were designed around the same time, and the commissioning of Natusch by Norman Gorton to create a smaller version of his father's home was most likely the result of his seeing and appreciating Colonel Gorton's house. This selection of Natusch's Tudor style architecture is representative of the variety achievable within the set language of an architectural style and how it could be manipulated depending on the requirements of the client. The result of this is that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Natusch created a group of related Tudor style buildings, but all of these houses had their own individual character.
