The two-storeyed house at 35 Knowles Street in Christchurch was constructed in 1908 to designs by England Brothers Architects and has historical and social significance for its association with businessman Henry W Jennings and architectural significance due to its English Domestic Revival design.

Fashionable Knowles Street was formed in 1906 and ‘first class building sections’ were advertised for sale there the following year, 1907. Christchurch Auctioneer, Henry William Jennings, purchased two adjoining sections on Knowles Street in August 1907 and had a house built soon after. Designed by well-known architectural practice of England Brothers (Robert and Edward England), the house at 35 Knowles Street was built for Jennings in 1908.

The house at 35 Knowles Street is part of a wider area of large architecturally designed early twentieth century houses in the Merivale/Papanui area that contribute to the streetscape. Its style is reminiscent of English architect Charles Voysey’s house ‘The Orchard’, Chorley Wood, England (built in 1899). The façade has two asymmetrical cross gables sweeping low at the outside edges and a single asymmetrical gable that sits across the north end of the east façade. At the south-east corner is a side entrance porch, with decorative timber work, above which sit a pair of flat dormer windows. The other windows are mostly long and low, with the exception of a feature Palladian window on the front (south) façade. The walls are cement stucco and Marseilles tiles cover the roof.

In November 1915 Jennings sold the dwelling and its contents. It was subsequently owned by a series of professionals, including another auctioneer, a medical practitioner, a sales manager and a solicitor. In 1950 the house was converted into two flats. In 1981-82 the building reverted to being a single dwelling and at that time the Palladian window was installed on the front façade. A gabled wing was added to the rear as an extension of the living room on the ground floor.