THE RESIDENCY, WAITANGI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22351, 24 February 1936, Page 13

THE RESIDENCY, WAITANGI

Sir, —As one of the architects responsible for the restoration of this building (commonly called the Treaty House), my attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to the lie v. F. W. Wilkes under the heading of llussell Church in the Herald of Wednesday last. Mr.* Wilkes is quoted as speaking of the residency as having the "external appearance of a cheap, tawdry, second-rate, modern bungalow." Mr. Wilkes is further quoted as saying that "it is commonly supposed that at Waitangi 100 years ago Mr. Busby lived in aji old world manor house." The facts in each case show that these statements are entirely wrong. In regard to the latter one, your readers are aware that except in one or two negligible details, the residency externally is exactly the same as when vacated by Mr. Busby. In other words, the work recently carried out was one of restoration only, for every detail of which Mr. Page and I had actual chapter and verse. Such departures from the original that were made were caused by the necessity to provido modern conveniences for the curator of the building, and are not departures from the spirit of the original The building is in the proportions and quiet taste of the simplified Georgian style of domestic architecture which the early architects in the overseas Dominions sometimes so charmingly translated into the building materials of the new countries. It is a building which has been the subject of very favourable comment by all those with the necessary training and taste to form a considered judgment. Even in its dilapidated state Lord Bledisloe's reaction to it was such that he took the greatest interest and pride in every detail of its restoration. In another connection in his letter Mr. Wilkes said, "truth is better than a pleasant sound." How much better still is truth than an unpleasant sound? To hear of the residency described as having the "ap-. pearance of a cheap, tawdry, second-rate modern bungalow" and as "New Zealand's greatest disappointment," is so remote from, the actual truth as to be decidedly unpleasant to the majority whose knowledge or instinct places it correctly, both architecturally and J historically. W..H. Gummer.