NEW ZEALAND HOMES.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20273, 26 June 1931, Page 12

NEW ZEALAND HOMES.

AS OTHERS SEE THEM. [By H. A. Ybldham in the "Saturday Review."] Twenty years ago, when I read in English newspapers that a storm in New Zealand had destroyed many houses, and that some had been carlied bodily to a new location, I gave more thought to the force of the gale than to the structure of the houses. As a matter of fact nine hundred oi a thousand New Zealand houses are bungalows of wood fastened to piles by iour-inch nails, with one or two chimneys of brick or concrete as the only 601i(4 and non-inflammable part of the structure. It is true that mosb comfortable and artistic homes are made of wood, and the kauri timber —now very scarce and costly—gives them a "lite" estimated by the Government to be not less than thirty to thirty-six years. Frequent painting and occasional repairs extend this "life" to sixty years or more. Houses built thirty or more years ago are mostly over-decorated.

Something more than fifteen years ago the country waa flooded by an enormous number of small books, issued by an American firm, and containing full particulars of bungalows of many kinds, th® authors offering working specifications by post in return for forty,or forty-five dollars. This resulted in nearly every builder, and many carpenters, becoming their own architects, an*d hundreds of houses of American design soon made their appearance. Rapid building is a. feature of the work in this country; from two to three months will see a house completed, drainage, water supply, and plumbing included. Corrugated iron for roofing, and iencing has been immensely popular, until reeontly, -when locally manufactured, tiles had found favour. Now, bricks, locally made, end concrete blocks have come into use for dwelling houses, andreinforced concrete and steel frame erections for the huge hotels and office buildings and those designed for us© as "flats." From an English point of view there is a lack of comfort and homeliness about New Zealand dwellings. Every sound can bo heard from room to room, and a hearty sneeze penetrates the entire building. Doors rattle'and slam, floors creak, and draughts are general. Before the imported American three-ply compressed : Wood sheets and concrete fibrous plaster attracted builders, wood houses were first lined with rough wood, then with scrim' (open-work canvas) stretched and tacked, with the joins covered by strips of cotton tape, and the whole covered with ordinary wallpaper. In damp ■ weather the ecrim drapes itself into folds, and at all times when" there is quickly moving air, the wind, getting behind the scrim and wallpaper, bulges' it out and sucks it back" again until; the apparently moving walls induce vertigo and astonish the immigrant. I have recently watched the building of a brick house- with a lining wall of brick, and a four.-inch air space between. In England I have seen such walls connected by "key-bricks" placed lengthways from wall to wall. Here, the two Kails were tied or held together by galvanised iron wire, resting, in short lengths, in th 6 mortared spaces between bricks. This may be a general form of economy, but it is new to me. Concrete houses are occupied as soon as finished, and I have known such to be painted inside and out with waterproof paint, making no allowance for the escape of vapour from the tons; of water used in mixing the concrete. It is unusual to excavate a level site when building upon a hillside, and there are many houses with the front (or back) almost twice the height of the opposing side, the space beneath the ground floor being used as cellarage. The sash 'window is in common use, although extensive "stoops" or verandahs on one, two, or three sides of a house suggest the advantages of French doors. Terraces, and crescents, and houses with party walls are almost unknown; J hero is a notioeablo absence of attics,, the low pitch of most roofs and the ground level design of th© majority of buildings rendering them exceptional. Forty years ago, twenty pounds per rooni. was a roughly accurate cost of a plain wooden bungalow. To-day .the cost is five or six times as great. Twelve shillings per square foot (floor space of rooms) 'is a low estimate for the cost of a seaside week-end cottage. The generosity of ttc Government through the Advance to Settlers and Advance to Workers Acts alone makes it possible for people of small means to build a home for themselves.