Occupying a Mountain Road site in Epsom opposite the landmark Auckland Grammar School, Stoneways is a well-preserved mid-1920s residence designed by the eminent New Zealand architect William Gummer (1884-1966) as his own family home. Lived in by Gummer for much of his adult working life, the two and a half-storey dwelling reflects the status and design skill of one of the co-founders of renowned architectural practice Gummer and Ford, who is known for a number of nationally significant commissions in Wellington and Auckland.

Stoneways lies to the northeast of Maungawhau (Mt Eden), the site of a pa with a long history of human occupation. Following Auckland’s founding as colonial capital in 1840, the land was part of William Aitken’s substantial suburban residential estate Rockwood. In 1924 William Gummer purchased the site on which to build his family home following his marriage to Edith Oiroa Batley (1900-2001). As the residence of a noted architect acclaimed as the principal designer of fifteen public buildings and monuments during the 1920s alone, the innovative and eclectic style of Stoneways illustrated the proficiency of classically trained Gummer as a creator of buildings for the New Zealand context.

The large, two and a half-storey residence was of concrete frame construction and reflected a free-style classicism attributable to Gummer’s period of work and study under prominent British architect Edwin Lutyens in 1911. One of comparatively few residential works by Gummer and a marked contrast to his early Arts and Crafts-influenced domestic designs in timber, Stoneways consisted of two obliquely located wings reminiscent of his much larger work at Tauroa homestead in Havelock North (1916). Internally, the ground floor layout incorporated public rooms, a den, a dining room and several service rooms. On the upper floor there were bedrooms and generous balconies. A staircase provided access to a flat roof which offered views of the Auckland Domain and outer Waitemata Harbour. Extensive grounds, an ongoing development project, reflected Gummer’s interest in landscape design and construction.

In 1934 a large west-facing balcony was enclosed and in 1940 a single-storey laundry addition was constructed. In 1957 Stoneways was purchased by Terence Gresson, one of the youngest appointees to the then Supreme Court. Subdivision of two rear lots in the late 1960s halved the area of the site. Stoneways featured in an account of the development of architecture in New Zealand in the nineteenth edition of Sir Banister Fletcher’s History of Architecture where it was noted for its classical composition, picturesque crafted features, and as the former residence of the prominent architect William Gummer. Classical attributes included a portico, a loggia and the monumental character of the flat-roofed structure. Stoneways remains in use as a private residence.

Stoneways has aesthetic significance for its visually interesting design, its distinctive form and the quality of its well-preserved interior which includes a distinctive stair hall window incorporating a small oriel feature. It has architectural value as a well-preserved, domestic design by the New Zealand architect William Gummer, who is considered to have been one of the finest architects of his generation and one of the country’s best-known architects during the inter-war period. It has outstanding significance as an illustration of Gummer’s flair for devising complex but lucid residential floor plans, within a small body of domestic work that achieved a distinction equal to his commercial buildings. Stoneways has outstanding historical value as the matrimonial home and three-decade place of residence of William Gummer, who lived in the building while undertaking a large number of nationally significant commissions.