ARCHITECTURE IX CHRISTCHURCH

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21088, 13 February 1934, Page 16

ARCHITECTURE IX CHRISTCHURCH

- ♦ Beautiful Homes STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Christchureh has long been famous throughout New Zealand for the boauly of its houses and gardens, and the charm or its domestic architecture, at once traditional and diversified, gives it an honourable claim to j its reputation. On this page are illustrated some of the city's betterknown dwellings, built in all periods of its history, and showing the way in which its architecture has developed since t'iie foundation of the Canterbury Settlement. ArchitecUrc has been described as a science ox adaptations, and nov.ln.re is this more dearly illustrated than iii the domestic buildings of a comparatively recently founded city such ixi Cnri.sicliL.ieh. The houses of almost any pioneer city show the same sequence of development and pass through lour main stages. The first cf these is the construction of the rudest huts and cottages for the sake of iiTimcuLite shelter; the second is an attempt to copy, in the materials to hand in the new country, the buildings of the cities from which the colonists came; the third is the erection of such buildings in the correct materials; and the lourth is the development of a new architecture, though almost invariably this new architecture is not so much an entirely novel one as a development or adaptation from old and traditional models. These steps, with the exception of the last, are clearly to be seen in Cnristchurch. Probably the city has not been in existence long enough for anything in the nature of a special type of building, a type peculiar to Christchureh alone, to have developed, white the same restriction applies to New Zealand as a whole. At present there is no national architecture in New Zealand, although there are developments which indicate that in perhaps another half-century a type of house may have been evolved which will be distinctively characteristic of the country and its people. A Pioneer Dwelling. The first stage is exemplified in the house now owned by Mr George Witt'.', at Avonhead. Riecarton. Built before 1853 by Mr W. Bray, it shows ail the characteristics of a pioneer dwelling, being constructed of the simplest end most easily obtained materials, and on the simplest possible architectural design. Photographs are in existence showing it in 1853. and its appearance has hardly changed in the intervening years. Constructed of what is called "Pise" or mud, with a thatched roof and with the rooms simply joined to one another in an extended straight line, it is the type of dwelling which inevitably precedes the house built in the later more prosperous and settled years of a colony. The building is still in use, and has been lived in almost continuously for the 80 years of its existence, proving its possession of a quality very desirable to settlers in a new landdurability. It is worth adding that according to tradition. the low windows in the roof were put in originally as firing points from which 10 beat oil' possible attacks by the Maoris, though they were never used lor the purpose, since the peaceable natives of xhe South Island never attempted forcible opposition to tne settlement by the Canterbury Pilgrims. Two Fine Old Houses. Examples of the second stage of development, that of copying traditional models in the materials immediately to hand, are to be found in two wellknown Christchureh houses, "Millbrook," the property of Mrs George Helmore, and "Eimwood," the property of Sir R. Heaton Rhodes. "Millbrook" was built about 1863, and is a typical specimen of a colonial architect's idea of the Victorian houses being built in England at that time. Early photographs of it show it to have been a iiouse with few pretensions to charm, but to-day, mellowed by the years and surrounded by one of the most, beautiful gardens in Christchureh, it possesses dignity and some beauty. , "Millbrook," unlike almost all the | houses built in later years, faces south --that is to say, away from the sun hi the southern hemisphere—and it is thought that the architect, fresh from the Northern Hemisphere, was so accustomed to facing his buildings south that he forgot to make allowance for the change in the seasons in New Zealand. Moreover, in the days in which ihe house was built an uninterrupted view of the Port Hills could be obtained from the site, which may have influenced the decision. "Eimwood" was built many years later than "Millbrook," in the second hall of the 'nineties, and shows the colonial architect's attempt to escape irom the prevailing models in Engand to build something more classical in style. Its architecture may be described as "Edwardian" handi•epped by lack of the proper mater- \ *»Js. Indeed, in outline it is, a? the) BJiotographs show, extremely similar ! to the Tudor style of Mr George HumJ*i? y 5, B h i^ sc ' "Daresbury Rookery," with the difference that it is built in!

A I'crfccl Tudor Dwelling. Perhaps the most charming of aH' Ihe older houses in Christchurch ij "Daresbury Rookery," which is a perfect reproduction of a half-timbered Tudor dwelling. Every aspect of it is in keeping with the type on which it is modelled and its beauties are enhanced by delightful surroundings. Its English shingled roof of flat quarry tiles, its leaded windows, overhanging gables, and charming porch reproduce to perfection the atmosphere of that period in architecture when comfortable and spacious manor houses were taking the place of the severe castles and Norman keeps which dominated England for many hundreds of years after the Conquest. "Daresbury Rookery" was built by Mr Samuel Hurst Scager, whose death occurred last October. Though born in England, Mr Seager was educated and began his profession in '■' Christchurch and for many years was the dominating force in directing the course of architectural development in the city. He designed many beautiful houses and, though he also built others not so beautiful, his influence, which was most felt between the beginning of the century and the outbreak of the war when a great deal of building was going on in Christchurch, was generally for good. It may be said that he had a major influence in determining the character of much of thft* •■• domestic architecture of the city, sines his methods with the larger buildings . were copied into the smaller ones, just as the methods of the younger school of to-day. A New Architecture. Another fine example of the period before the war is the house of Mr John Montgomery, in Riccarton road • This dwelling was built originally for file late Mr A. E. Kincaid, from plans prepared by a well-known Englisil architect. It is one of the earliest examples in Christchurch of the new architecture which sprang up in England in reaction to Victorian ideals and which probably had its origin in the aesthetic and cultural teachings of Ruskin and Morris. Though it lacks the simplicity which is the keynote of modern architecture, it indicates a step in that direction away from the pettiness and confusion of many Victorian dwellings and possesses a distinction and charm which give it a worthy place among the beautiful homes of Christchurch. The revival of Georgian styles in architecture since the war has had a strong influence on both domestic and public architecture, in* Christchurch. for which Mr Cecil Wood has been largely responsible. Much of his work, which is not purely Georgian in character, shows the influence of the style, while some of his buildings which are specifically Georgian are among the pleasantest in the city. The home of Mr G. T. Weston, in Park terrace is perhaps the finest piece of his work, being an example of the true Georgian type in brick in its later and lighter period. Its restful and dignified beauty is a constant source of pleasure to those fond of good buildings and as a specimen of period architecture it ranks with Mr Seager's design for "Daresbury Rookery." Examples of Adaptation. While the style of the houses of Mri J. F. Green, in Beverley street, St. Albans, and Mrs C. S. Bowden, in Papanut road, bears no superficial resem* blance to that of Mr Weston's house, both styles have a common origin. The houses of Mrs Green and Mrs Bowdea are examples of Early American Colonial architecture based on the style of ihe Georgian period in England and adapted for construction in the materials most easily obtained by the American colonists. The result of this adaptation has been to evolve what can definitely be considered a new type, and it is through a similar evolution that New Zealand may one day hope to possess a native architecture cf her own. Of the two houses it may be said that Mrs Green's has developed a stage further and that Mrs Bowden's is nearer the original Georgian. The porch of Mrs Bowden's house is a typical Georgian example, while the prinncipal remaining Georgian characteristics of Mrs Green's home are the design of the windows and the plain shingle roof. Mrs Green's was designed bj 4 Mr Cecil Wood and Mrs Bowden's Mr Jack Guthrie. The house of Mrs Ivan Scay, which was designed by Messrs Helmore and Cotterill, is another example of American colonial adaptation, this time from the French. The high, sloping roots, the dormer windows, and the interesting porch are plainly derived from the French country house, while the wrought-iron'balconies outside the bedroom windows, the doors of which open inwards, are also reminiscent of French construction. All domestic architecture of Christchurch up to the present day has been designed on traditional models, and so far the great changes in house building which have occurred on the Continent since the war have not found expression here, but there is at present being built in Fendalton a house planned according to the latest Continental methods, which may be the forerunner ot a revolution ill Christchurch. However, whatever ncvc-ltie* i'ie future may Si-in.-; i.r.'.'i nr.w.y bcri.iii'.i! hiinies will i\ ;,-;■;■: r;> r.h ■.-.'■• t'- :: ' lS ill': archite.-i.; or f.-..- ],:•.: crA tUcs" i of to-day \.vrj cj>; ol' i'. .0 \ e-'* j.inc', though c.o dar.S--^!- 0 ; it saen-.s unlikely that city vJ» ever have to feel aihp.mcd of the \v*K ' that lias...be«i£ djane in &i past.