Current Description
Setting
Ferntree Lodge sits among substantial grounds with mature trees, both native and exotic. The house is set back off the road. There is terraced landscaping behind the house, and in front, a patio, with a formal stair and flanked by low-walled gardens and other landscaping. The owners are working to restore the gardens which have long been overgrown. There is a bush reserve to the east, with residences on the other boundaries largely screened by plantings.
There are two outbuildings, a brick shed (still containing a tin bath and shower), contemporary with the 1902 residence, and a new garage, in which is incorporated a section of the original stable (the loft and ceiling) in the new fabric.
Ferntree (ponga) construction
Ferntree (ponga) houses were a common building form in the earliest period of Dunedin’s European settlement. The first settler houses made use of ponga in the dense bush that surrounded the harbour. Ferntree houses used available and cheap materials. Builders E. Brown and J. Nicolson, for example, advertised that they would erect clay or ferntree houses for around £20. Ferntree houses were common – but they were not usually as elaborate as Borton’s residence. In early real estate advertisements Fern Tree residences feature – even as close to the centre of ‘town’ as Moray Place, one block from The Octagon. Ferntree cottages were often the earliest Pākehā residences, like that of T.C. De Lacy in Ravensbourne described as the ‘first white man’s residence in that locality.’ Another was built in Wakari and was advertised for sale in 1870, consisting of a large parlour, bedrooms, kitchen and pantry on the ground floor, as well as having attics etc. on the upper floor. As these temporary residences were replaced with substantial houses, they were demolished and became rare survivors. In 1898, only one other Dunedin example was noted, in London Street.
Conservation architect Jeremy Salmond writes that the combination of timber and mud was ‘one of the most ancient ways of making shelter’ and dated back to the earliest human communities, and was, in Britain ‘for centuries the typical self-help housing of the poor.’ The materials were easily collected and cost nothing. Salmond writes that ponga was ‘popular for framed log houses, particularly in Otago and Southland.’
There are few buildings on the Heritage New Zealand List/Rārangi Kōrero with ponga construction elements: known examples are the Ponga Whare on the Chatham Islands, and the German Mission House, also on the Chathams. Both examples date to the mid-late 1860s. Ferntree Lodge is believed to be the oldest surviving ponga house in New Zealand.
Surviving 1840s Buildings
There are several other buildings in the South Island surviving from the 1840s. They include Ackers Cottage (Category 1 List. No. 396) on Stewart Island, the Mt Gladstone cob cottage (Category 2 List . No. 2936) in the Awatere Valley in Marlborough, the farm buildings at Matanaka (List Nos.51, 52 & 333, all Category 1) in Otago, Deans Cottage (List. No 3679 Category 1) at Riccarton, Christchurch and French Farm House, Akaroa (List No. 7708, Category 1). The oldest building is Howell's Cottage (Category 1 List. No. 2540) in Riverton, dating from 1837.
In the North Island, 1840s buildings include Hulme Court, Parnell, Auckland (List No. 19, Category 1), Taylor-Stace Cottage, Pauatahanui (List No. 4108, Category 1) and Collett House, Lower Hutt (List No. 7479, Category 1). The oldest building (both in the North Island and New Zealand) is Kerikeri Mission House (List No. 2, Category 1), dating to 1821-1822.
Exterior
The house is in two sections – the 1849 ponga residence, and connected by the billiard room, the 1902 Edwardian gentleman’s residence. Hislop sensitively designed the 1902 brick residence to echo the form and decoration of the 1849 house – the gables and the stick work reflect the earlier design. The 1902 portion is set back a little, giving the main elevation of the 1849 cottage a sense of identity.
The 1849 Portion
The 1849 portion is a one and a half storey residence built in a Carpenter Gothic style. The shingle roof is steeply pitched with projecting dormer windows. The house was originally T-shaped in plan with two connected gables. The rear of the T has been incorporated into the 1902 residence although the owner records that the roof framing is still in place.
The walls are built of ponga logs and framed by timber painted to contrast with the dark logs, providing a striking decorative effect, reminiscent of Tudor architecture. For such an early residence, this shows considerable thought and effort on the part of the owner and the building to create a residence of some status. This is not a ferntree hut. The windows are casements with multi-panes adding to the intricate detailing. There is a lean-to to the rear in which the updated kitchen is located.
1902 Portion
The 1902 residence is a grand Edwardian gentlemen’s residence, connected with the cottage via the billiard room that bridges the two parts (and the roof structure of which contains some original structural timbers).
Brick was a more expensive material than timber, so Thomson’s decision to build in brick was not one of economy. Dunedin’s wealth (and lack of earthquakes) had seen more brick and stone houses built in Otago by 1888, than in the rest of New Zealand. The form of the 1902 section echoes that of the 1849 cottage – intersecting steep gables, dormer windows, use of multi-paned glazing, decorative stick work detailing, the slate roof (sympathetic with the patterning of the shingles) and the tall brick chimneys. The pairing is sympathetic and aesthetically pleasing.
Such a two-storey residence marked Thomson as a ‘prosperous and successful owner’ as did the interior decorative details and the quality of the fixtures and fittings. Features such as the prominent stairs, with their turned balusters and carved, turned and moulded newel posts give the house grandeur and status.
The main elevation faces east and overlooks the gardens and surrounding native bush, echoing the position of the 1849 cottage. The formal entrance is tucked into the side of the main gable, and has a porch roof with spindled detailing. There is an arched window and a projecting bay window to the left. On the second floor a gabled dormer projects from the roof. The flanked banding on the slate roofs (the house, the porch, and the bay window) provides additional detail.
The main side elevation, facing north east, looks over the lawn and side garden with mature trees. This elevation has two projecting gables. The decorative detail consists of stick work at the peaks of the gables, echoing the multi-pane casement windows. The tall brick chimneys with their decorative cantilevered courses and complex geometries are significant features. Like the front door, the side door has its own semi-enclosed porch, and a projecting box bay with its own slate roof.
The rear elevation has a set of paired gables and another projecting bay window. The first floor has a semi-circular cantilevered bay window that was added at a later date. This is a plainer elevation. The single storey wing to the west end houses the services for the house – the kitchen, maid’s room and the like. The single storey areas are clad in corrugated iron.
Interior
The 1849 Portion
The 1849 portion has two ground floor rooms, kitchen, a hall, stair, bathroom, and two upstairs bedrooms. The interior of the 1849 part of the building has evidence of changing finishes over its years of use. Many of the walls are lined with paper on the original scrim. The windows are casements with top-lights and multiple panes (ten-light for the long windows, four-light for the fanlights). Much of the early window furniture remains. The fireplaces date from the 1920s with ceramic tiles and oak mantels. The hall was refinished in oak, probably in the 1920s. The original narrow turning stair remains, leading to the small coved ceilinged upper bedrooms. A bathroom with a round-edged, heavy marble bath is accessed off the landing. In places where the scrim has been partially removed, timber sarking is visible underneath. The floors are wide boards.
1902 Portion
The 1902 section is divided into the family residence and the servant’s areas – and these are demarcated by the decoration – utilitarian match-lining in the servant hallways and rooms, and opulent timber finishing in the family rooms.
Fireplaces are a mix of styles, reflecting changing tastes of the owners. Some of the original marble mantels remain, while others are timber, tile and with brass fittings. The joinery and architraving is in native timbers. In the high status rooms, such as the smoking room, music room and living room, there are heavily ornate plaster ceilings and ceiling roses.
The house is notable for its ornate coloured, stained and leadlight glass. The front door and fanlight, the billiard room window, and the large windows in the hallway are notable. The hallway windows, located on the landing of the grand sweeping stair, feature two Māori figures, Māori motifs and designs, as well as native birds. The hallway has detached Corinthian columns standing on plinths as well as an ornate ceiling. There is timber panelling to a dado level in the hall and stairs. The ‘public’ rooms are designed to impress (but not overwhelm). The main bedroom has a heavily decorated ceiling, while other rooms have more modest finishes, while still retaining a sense of generosity and grandeur. Interesting features include the mirrored shutters in the smoking room. The connecting billiard room is generous with a brick fireplace, timber floors and a decorative panelled ceiling.
Notably, the 1902 portion represents the considerable skills of architect James Hislop. The grounds are also important and some of the specimens of native species are of particular historical botanical importance, some being remnants of pre-European bush.
Stained Glass
In their history of stained glass windows in New Zealand houses Jock Phillips and Chris Maclean write that certain national motives gave New Zealand glass its distinctive character – in the early years New Zealand birds and plants were occasionally portrayed in windows. They write that ‘more significantly there was a consistent effort to represent the Maori and to employ Maori designs.’ They describe the windows in Ferntree Lodge as ‘remarkable examples from the turn of the century, a period when the interest in New Zealand as ‘Maoriland’ was at its height. Using paintwork, as well as the leadline, the artist portrays a Maori chief complete with feather cloak, a Maori woman and child, and high up across a door lintel an eerie Maori canoe. Throughout the windows traditional Maori wood-carving designs are incorporated into the surrounding detail.’ Phillips and Maclean write that Māori motifs at Ferntree Lodge were used ‘for essentially Pakeha purposes of decoration.’ The artist who made the windows is not identified.
Historian Kynan Gentry writes that by the end of the nineteenth century tikanga Māori was of ‘growing importance’ to ‘New Zealand’s tourism industry and colonial identity’ – this was reflected in the growing demand for artifacts for Pākehā collectors. Gentry writes that Pākehā efforts to “save” Māori culture were for the most part self-serving – driven by the ways Māori culture was seen to support Pākehā identity.’ Gentry writes that ‘Indigenous flora and fauna and motifs from Maori carving had been employed as distinctly New Zealand symbols long before the end of the nineteenth century’ and that these symbols were also incorporated into domestic features – such as banisters, mantelpieces, doorframes and the like. The ‘Pakeha adoption and adaption of tikanga Maori during this period is complex, but was ultimately the result of conscious efforts of “native born” colonists to create an indigenous identity for themselves.’ Gentry also writes that the ‘new affinity with the indigenous’ was ‘in part made possible by a fading perception of the indigenous as alien, it also reflected the Pakeha sense that both the landscape and Maori were ostensibly submissive to settler authority.’ The use of Māori carving and design became ‘more common in public and private buildings’ in the 1920s and 1930s, especially in interior design.
Such motifs were used by Dunedin company Smith and Smith in the early years of the twentieth century. The New Zealand Times reported that Smith and Smith were the largest such firm in New Zealand – their exhibit at the Christchurch Exhibition featured clematis and a ‘border of Maori carving, all worked in stained glass (beating all competitors in this section.)’
For successful merchants such as Thomson stained glass emphasised the wealth and opulence of the house. The front door, side and fanlights, and the stair landing were common locations for such displays – providing extra light while maintaining privacy, as well as providing sufficient distance for these designs to look their best. The glass work owes much to the Aesthetic Movement of the 1870s and 1880s which encouraged ‘the urban middle class to look on all elements of interior decoration…as serious aesthetic statements.’ Phillips and Maclean write that ‘[s]tained glass windows became a necessary ornament for the affluent home.’ Birds and flowers were prominent in Victorian glass, some imported from England, but having a kiln for baking glass (as Smith & Smith of Dunedin did) enabled the use local imagery – as was done at Ferntree Lodge.
