Located in prestigious Epsom, the two-storey timber villa Amohia was established on its Mountain Road site in circa 1911-12 by Auckland industrialist and entrepreneur Joseph James Craig (1860-1916). The impressive residence - initially an adjunct to Craig's homestead property Omana - was briefly owned in the early 1920s by philanthropist Frank Mappin while he developed Birchlands, later known as Government House Auckland, on an adjoining property.
Amohia is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Eden (Maungawhau), the site of a pa with a long history of human occupation. The Auckland Isthmus was taken over by Ngati Whatua in the eighteenth century preceding Auckland's 1840 founding as colonial capital. Part of an 1856 Crown Grant, the land initially lay within the grounds of a grand country house, Boxley, developed after 1876 by grocery wholesaler and kauri gum merchant Arthur Heather (d.1933). In 1907 it was bought by J.J. Craig - a business magnate with interests including shipping, haulage, mining, quarrying and brick making - to add to the curtilage of his large adjoining residence, Omana.
A few years after the purchase, Craig established Amohia on the site. The slate-roofed Italianate-style villa was of a type favoured in the 1870s and 1880s, and may have been relocated from elsewhere. The building had a rectangular plan with paired round-headed windows, bay windows and valance verandahs. Established in circa 1911-12, it stood on cyclopean concrete block foundation walls, a comparatively early use of a material first produced commercially in Invercargill in 1909. Chimney pots, and the bricks in the steps, may have been produced by Craig's extensive Avondale brick works. Internally, the dwelling's main rooms were arranged either side of the central hallway on each floor. Initially, the property was occupied by widow Margaret Gleeson, whose son Robert died at Gallipoli (1915) while she was in residence.
In 1920 the house was transferred to James Craig, later a managing director of the family firm. Subdivided in 1921, the property was bought the following year by philanthropist Frank Mappin who lived there while converting Boxley into his home Birchlands, later known as Government House Auckland. Auckland lawyer and academic Robert Moody, for some years the legal advisor to Tonga's King George Tupou II, bought Amohia in 1924. The slate roof was replaced in metal, possibly during 1970s renovations. Subsequent alterations included the replacement of a rear wing by a new kitchen and family room.
Amohia has aesthetic significance for its striking external appearance, its visual prominence from Mountain Road and its location adjoining the well-established grounds of Government House Auckland. It has architectural significance as a well-preserved, elite residence of Italianate design. The building has technological value for its cyclopean concrete block foundation walls, an early use of the material in the Auckland region. The place has historical significance for its associations with Auckland business magnate J.J. Craig, philanthropist Frank Mappin, and lawyer Robert Moody. The place lies within a significant and comparatively well-preserved historical and cultural landscape in Epsom, a suburb favoured by the influential and wealthy in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Amohia is situated on the lower slopes of Mt Eden (Maungawhau), the site of a pa with a long history of human occupation. The Auckland Isthmus was taken over by Ngati Whatua in the eighteenth century preceding Auckland's 1840 founding as colonial capital. Part of an 1856 Crown Grant, the land initially lay within the grounds of a grand country house, Boxley, developed after 1876 by grocery wholesaler and kauri gum merchant Arthur Heather (d.1933). In 1907 it was bought by J.J. Craig - a business magnate with interests including shipping, haulage, mining, quarrying and brick making - to add to the curtilage of his large adjoining residence, Omana.
A few years after the purchase, Craig established Amohia on the site. The slate-roofed Italianate-style villa was of a type favoured in the 1870s and 1880s, and may have been relocated from elsewhere. The building had a rectangular plan with paired round-headed windows, bay windows and valance verandahs. Established in circa 1911-12, it stood on cyclopean concrete block foundation walls, a comparatively early use of a material first produced commercially in Invercargill in 1909. Chimney pots, and the bricks in the steps, may have been produced by Craig's extensive Avondale brick works. Internally, the dwelling's main rooms were arranged either side of the central hallway on each floor. Initially, the property was occupied by widow Margaret Gleeson, whose son Robert died at Gallipoli (1915) while she was in residence.
In 1920 the house was transferred to James Craig, later a managing director of the family firm. Subdivided in 1921, the property was bought the following year by philanthropist Frank Mappin who lived there while converting Boxley into his home Birchlands, later known as Government House Auckland. Auckland lawyer and academic Robert Moody, for some years the legal advisor to Tonga's King George Tupou II, bought Amohia in 1924. The slate roof was replaced in metal, possibly during 1970s renovations. Subsequent alterations included the replacement of a rear wing by a new kitchen and family room.
Amohia has aesthetic significance for its striking external appearance, its visual prominence from Mountain Road and its location adjoining the well-established grounds of Government House Auckland. It has architectural significance as a well-preserved, elite residence of Italianate design. The building has technological value for its cyclopean concrete block foundation walls, an early use of the material in the Auckland region. The place has historical significance for its associations with Auckland business magnate J.J. Craig, philanthropist Frank Mappin, and lawyer Robert Moody. The place lies within a significant and comparatively well-preserved historical and cultural landscape in Epsom, a suburb favoured by the influential and wealthy in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
