Original, unmolested modernist homes of the 1940s are pretty hard to come by in Christchurch which makes this Stewart Minson design a real find. The combination of the L-shape, flat-roof, weatherboard, and flagstone are a fine mix and the way the roofline steps down the slope is super sharp.
…continue reading 71 Te Awakura Tce. Stewart Minson.
Designed in 1976 for a wealthy builder, the Forbes House is arguably the grandest of Warren & Mahoney’s residential buildings of the time. The house is formidable: raw, exposed concrete beams dominate, yet it’s elegant and totally cool.
…continue reading 5a Snowdon Rd. Forbes House. Warren & Mahoney.
Modified almost beyond recognition, here’s an important house in New Zealand modernism, introducing the open, L-shape plan in the late 30s. Ernst Plischke, an Austrian Emigre, designed this home for his sponsors. It was his first private commission in New Zealand and completed whilst at the Ministry of Works in Wellington.
…continue reading 9 Ford Rd. Frankel House. Ernst Plischke.
A little elderly and big for our tastes, but interesting nonetheless: hotelier Earl Hagman’s Coldstream Lodge was built in 1935, but remodeled in the international modernist style by Heathcote Helmore for the Ballantyne family in the 1940s.
…continue reading 10 Coldstream Ct. Coldstream Lodge. Heathcote Helmore.
Everyone loves this house down in Sumner, including us. It’s built on an awfully narrow block, but cleverly uses open plan living on the upper level to make the most of the space and view – unheard of in 1945. Originally filled with Garth Chester plywood furniture, which Pascoe admired, the house has been nicely updated over the years and still stands out for all the good reasons.
…continue reading 58 Colenso St. Piano House. Paul Pascoe
A lovely example of the continental L-shape floorplans brought to Christchurch by Ernst Plischke in the late 1930s. These houses introduced multi-purpose living areas and full height glass opening onto courtyard gardens. This one, built in 1947, looks particularly well-restored and is a credit to the owners (orange door aside).
…continue reading 25a Cashmere Rd. Maling House. Pascoe and Hall.
Featured in NZ Womens Weekly, 1963. “Mrs Selwyn Carson told Peter Beaven she admired the ‘cots’ at Akaroa and wanted ‘a modern interpretation of a traditional stye cottage with a verandah’. Mrs Carson, a doctor’s wife with four children, had also requested that the house be childproof or more specifically boy-proof.”
…continue reading 16 Dyers Pass Rd. Carson House. Peter Beaven.
This unfinished sketch shows Rita Angus’s home her father bought the house for her in 1943.
The cottage sat high on Clifton Hill, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Paul Pascoe designed it with large windows, a flat roof, and a sunny brick-paved terrace. It was a sanctuary for Angus and remained her home until 1954.
…continue reading 18 Aranoni Track. Rita Angus House. Paul Pascoe.
