The site lies on the northeastern slopes of Mt Hobson-Remuwera, a hill occupied by Waihoua peoples in the early 1700s. Initially known as Ohinerangi, the settlement is said to have been renamed Remuwera after the killing of a high-born female visitor by Waihoua, a contributory factor in the eventual takeover of lands on the Auckland isthmus by Te Taou, a sub-tribe of Ngati Whatua, in the mid 1700s. After Ngati Whatua migrated south some eighty years later in response to incursions by Nga Puhi, Remuwera marked the division between lands held solely by Ngati Whatua and those held in association with other iwi. In 1844, a large convocation of Maori gathered at its base to discuss land sales with the colonial government, underlining the power of Waikato tribes in particular in the Auckland area. Attended by over 4000 individuals from seventeen tribes, the discussions were accompanied by a feast said to have been one of the largest ever held in Aotearoa New Zealand. The hill was formally renamed Mt Hobson by the colonial authorities, although the growing colonial settlement around its lower slopes continued to be known as 'Remuera'.
Due in part to its fertile nature, land surrounding Mt Hobson was sought by wealthy settlers soon after Auckland's foundation in 1840. In 1854, the area currently occupied by Wharema formed part of a thirteen-acre Crown Grant to William Grahame, a native of Richmond, Surrey, England, who accumulated other property nearby. Grahame was a significant early merchant, whose bond store on the Auckland waterfront was one of the first stone buildings erected in the colonial capital. In 1870, Grahame sold the land as part of a 32-acre accumulation of his holdings to James Williamson (1814-1888) for the considerable sum of £5000. By the mid 1880s, the land formed part of a large estate incorporating a house, garden, orchard, lake and stream, as well as several outbuildings such as a summerhouse and possible gatehouse. Its eastern boundary along Portland Road was hedged.
The estate owner, James Williamson, was a prominent landholder and financier, who helped to found the New Zealand Insurance Company (1859), the Bank of New Zealand (1861) and the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (1865). He was also a member of the House of Representatives (1862-1867) and the Legislative Council (1870-1888). From the late 1870s, his main residence was at the Pah in Hillsborough, considered to be one of the grandest private residences in the Auckland region. Much of his fortune derived from land speculation, including the subdivision of a large estate at Surrey Hills on the outskirts of Auckland in the 1870s. He was also heavily involved in land purchase in the Waikato following the Third New Zealand - or Waikato - War (1863-1864).
Williamson's suffered a dramatic financial decline in the late 1880s, coinciding with a downturn in the Auckland economy. His difficulties may have contributed to the decision to subdivide and sell the Remuera estate in 1885, by which time the area had become desirable suburban land. With its harbour views and associations with genteel property ownership, Remuera was particularly attractive to members of Auckland's élite families, who were increasingly withdrawing from the colonial city centre. In the late 1880s, it was described as 'the wealthiest and most highly ornate suburb of Auckland' where most of the 'commercial magnates' lived. By February 1885, the estate had been surveyed into 52 separate lots, mostly between a quarter and half an acre in size. A contemporary advertisement suggests that the lots were offered at auction at the Opera House, Auckland on 21 January of the same year.
Construction of Wharema (circa 1886)
Lot 46, on which Wharema was constructed, lay in the eastern part of the former estate, bounding Portland Road to the front and the newer Eastbourne Road to the rear. Portland Road appears to have been a major colonial thoroughfare, providing access from Auckland via the Waitemata waterfront. In June 1885, the lot was purchased by Kate Clark (née Woolnough, 1847-1926), a wealthy patron of the arts, and an author and artist in her own right, who resided at 'The Tower' on the opposite corner of Remuera and Portland Road to the estate lands. The lot was half an acre in size.
Interested in the colony's natural and cultural history, Clark may have been one of the earliest women writing about New Zealand to have had books published overseas with A Southern Cross Fairy Tale in 1891, Persephone and Other Poems in 1894 and Maori Tales and Legends in 1896. She was also an important figure in charitable organizations in Auckland such as the Girls' Friendly Society, and together with the influential British socialist Beatrice Webb (1958-1943), represented the National Council of Women of New Zealand at the London meeting of the International Council of Women in 1899. Her husband, James McCosh Clark (1833-1898), was a director of the New Zealand Insurance Company and the Bank of New Zealand, and a close business associate of Williamson's. He was also mayor of Auckland from 1880 to 1883, and president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce from 1879 to 1881. Like his wife, James Clark was closely connected with the arts, being president of the Auckland Society of Arts for a seven-year period from 1881 to 1888.
The Clarks may have purchased the land for Kate's sister, Emily Woolnough (1857?-1920), to whom the property was transferred in December 1885. Social networks combining family and financial ties were an important part of colonial society in New Zealand, particularly among the wealthy élite. Emily was also an artist, born in Ipswich, England, like Kate and another sister Ellen. In later life, she was closely identified with the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, the Red Cross and Patriotic Associations. She was also a vice-president of the Ladies' Hockey Association, a committee member of the Croquet Association and, like her sister, on the committee of the Auckland Society of Arts.
The house is likely to have been erected at around the time of Emily's marriage in August 1886 to Edward Payton (1854-1944), an Auckland-based artist who had trained at the Birmingham School of Art. Edward Payton is recorded as residing in Remuera in mid 1886, and one of his sketches dated April 1887 is entitled 'View from The Whare, Portland Road, Remuera', indicating that the dwelling had been erected by this time. The house appears to have initially been called The Whare by the Payton family, although a copper nameplate found on the property indicates that it was also known as Wharema.
The large timber dwelling was constructed in the southern part of the lot, with its impressive double-storey balconies facing north and west, towards both the Waitemata Harbour and Mt Hobson-Remuwera. Of combined Regency and later Victorian style, possibly bearing American influences, its size and design marked it out as a prestigious building. The two-storey house incorporated a parlour, dining room and service quarters downstairs, and a dressing room and four bedrooms upstairs. One of the latter is believed to have accommodated a governess. Its grounds encompassed a circular driveway, screened from Portland Road by a belt of large trees. An area to the south of the service quarters was enclosed by a corrugated iron fence, effectively creating a separate service yard.
The building's designer is uncertain, although Emily Woolnough's father, Henry, is known to have been an architect in Britain. The builder appears to have been George Heron, whose name has been found on joinery in the house. This may be the Remuera-based contractor, George Heron (1835?-1917), who had travelled to Britain and America, and was a member of the Auckland Club. Alternatively, it may be George Andrew Heron (1857?-1925), recorded as a builder of Bell Road, Remuera in the early 1890s. Unusually for its period, the building was erected on scoria concrete footings, although these were evidently built directly on top of the contemporary topsoil rather than dug into the ground, perhaps reflecting a lack of familiarity with the material. Other specifications were conspicuously generous, with the house incorporating a kauri timber superstructure, a slate roof and reeded timber lining throughout.
Occupation by Sarah and Edward Payton (circa 1886-1887 and 1895-1901)
The Paytons are believed to have occupied the house in 1886-1887, at which time Edward Payton achieved prominence as an artist. From a well-to-do family in Warwickshire, England, Payton had arrived in New Zealand in 1883. Two years later, he embarked on a pioneering journey through the King Country with photographer Alfred Burton (1833-1835?-1914) and surveyor John Rochfort, recording the scenes that they encountered. In 1886 he travelled to Rotorua to record the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Tarawera, the resulting engravings being sufficiently accomplished to be published in The Graphic of London. His first exhibition was held in Auckland in 1887, by which time he may have been promised a role as the first principal of the Elam School of Arts, the earliest art school in Auckland Province and the only private art school in the country. Like his sister-in-law Kate Clark, Payton held a strong interest in Maori culture and New Zealand's natural landscape, potentially reflected in the name and location of his home in Portland Road.
While awaiting preparations for Elam to open, the Paytons returned to England for two years, where Edward gained a teaching certificate at the National Art Training School in South Kensington. When in Britain, he published an account of his journey to the King Country, Round about New Zealand (1888). On his return in 1889, Payton made a number of etchings of Auckland and Rotorua, published in a portfolio considered to have been 'possibly the first of its kind in New Zealand'. Payton took up his job as the inaugural principal of Elam in 1890, a post he retained until retirement in 1924. During this time, he worked with other prominent teachers such as the photographer Edward (Clas) Friström (1864-1950), and oversaw the teaching of numerous New Zealand artists, including Anna Lois White (1903-1984) and Connie and Olive Lloyd. Adept at both photography and other visual arts, his images include portraits of Maori such as Makerati Papakura (1873-1930) - a guide, ethnographer and Tuhourangi woman of mana - and Pakeha pioneers including the Reverend Arthur Purchas (1821-1906), an early missionary and member of the Scenery Preservation Society.
Wharema was leased to the solicitor William Read Bloomfield (1861-1914) while the Paytons were abroad. Bloomfield was from a wealthy landed Gisborne family, later becoming a director of several companies, a member of the Council of the Auckland Chamber of Mines and chairman of the Northern Club, one of Auckland's most élite establishments. His lease evidently extended beyond the Paytons' return as the latter are listed as residing in Devonport in the early 1890s. Together with their two young children, the Paytons moved back to Wharema in 1895 or early 1896, where they remained until 1901. It may be during this period that a stables and washhouse was constructed, as the structure does not appear to be visible on early photographs of the house. A door in the southern wall of the stables, noted during recent alterations, suggests that horses were kept in a paddock immediately to the south. A flat area of ground to the north of the house may also have been converted for recreational purposes such as tennis or croquet.
Subsequent occupation and use
In 1901, the house was purchased by Matilda Colbeck, wife of John Colbeck, accountant of Auckland. It may have been at this time that the house was renamed Wharema, as the Paytons appear to have transferred the earlier name of The Whare to their new residence elsewhere in Remuera. The Colbecks could have been prior acquaintances as Matilda took out a mortgage with Edward Payton in 1903. She was the third of a succession of female owners with comparatively well-to-do husbands to purchase the land, perhaps reflecting attempts to spread ownership within members of élite families to protect assets during periods of boom and bust.
In 1907, the land was transferred to Mary Augusta Tole (née Smales, 1863?-1943), the widow of Daniel Tole (?-1904), a former Commissioner of Crown Lands and Provincial Surveyor who had gained the New Zealand War medal for service in the third New Zealand - or Waikato - Waikato War (1863-4). Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Mary Tole became a prominent member of the Catholic community after arriving in Auckland, serving as vice-president of the Catholic Women's League and as a member of the ladies' committee of the Blind Institute in Newmarket.
At the time of her occupation of Wharema, Mary Tole was a mother to eight children - most of them still at a young age - of whom several would achieve artistic and other prominence. These included the architect George Tole (1896-1972), who designed numerous significant buildings in Auckland and gained the NZIA Gold Medal in 1933 for the design and supervision of St Michael's Church, Remuera with Horace Massey. He was also President of the Tree Society for three years. His elder brother John (1890-1967) assisted him on some projects, becoming a well-known lawyer and artist, and winning the Bledisloe Landscape Medal in 1953 for his painting 'Beyond Taihape'. Another brother Charles (1903-1988) gained a reputation as an even more significant artist, producing paintings such as 'Landscape' and 'Road to the Quarry', and receiving the Serjent First Award in 1970. Influenced by American Modernism, Charles has been considered one of the dozen leading artists in New Zealand in the 1950s and early 1960s, and was referred to at his death as 'one of New Zealand's most distinguished artists of the older generation.' Both John and Charles formed, and exhibited with, the Thornhill group of Auckland painters in the 1940s and 1950s, with Charles in particular being associated with the development of Early Modernism in New Zealand. John was also a foundation member of the Auckland Catholic Repertory Company and a long-term member of the Auckland Society of Arts.
The Tole family occupied the house for ten years, selling it in 1917 to the merchant Arthur Tattley (1885?-1935). Tattley made several alterations, including the insertion of fashionable leadlight windows, a bay window to the parlour and numerous three-panel doors. Many of these elements dated to December 1917. An extension to the stables may have been erected at a similar time, to encompass the building's likely conversion into a garage. On Tattley's comparatively early death in 1935, the property was placed in the hands of the New Zealand Insurance Company Ltd., perhaps indicating that his wife and children were unable to meet ongoing costs. In 1941 the gardens to the north and west of the house were subdivided, before yet further subdivision occurred immediately next to the northern elevation of the house in 1951-52, by which time front stairs to the ground floor verandah had been added. Ensuing alterations included internal modifications to the main building in 1965 and 1968. During this period, the building was successively converted into a boarding house, a rooming house and then into four flats.
In 1980, the property was purchased by its current owners, Bryan and Annette Ferneyhough for conversion to a family home. An extensive programme of repair and conservation was carried out, lasting into the 1990s. Alterations have included replacement of the external concrete basement walls and base plates, removal of twentieth-century partitions and doors, replacement of the lean-to scullery with a bay window, and the insertion of a rear porch in space previously occupied by part of the lower floor balcony. Part of an 1880s wall dividing the original pantry from a maid's bedroom has also been removed.
Before internal walls were gibbed, samples of wallpaper and linen backing were taken, indicating the high quality and visual appearance of the early décor of the house. A kitchen extension was added in 2002. Modifications to the washouse have included the removal of a copper in its southwest corner and the insertion of a large window in its western elevation. The latter came from a demolished structure in Russell.
In 1998, land to the north of the house was repurchased, and a building on its site replaced by a timber structure in keeping with the nineteenth-century style of Wharema. Retaining much of its early fabric, the main house and washhouse/stables remain in use as a private dwelling.
