It’s a lot of brown, but if you don’t mind the colour this is a very original 1960s home from the never-dull Peter Beaven, arguably still one of Christchurch’s best young architects.

…continue reading 264A Waimairi Rd. Peter Beaven.

This particular house is noteworthy more for it’s owner than architect. Professor Roy Kerr commissioned this house after returning to New Zealand in 1972. Kerr is a super-scientist, recipient of the Rutherford Medal and the subject of the semi-biographical book Cracking the Einstein Code. That aside, he had a pretty sweet house that’s subsequently been furnished like a cheap motel.

…continue reading 68B Creyke Rd. Prof. Kerr House. Warren & Mahoney.

A little winner at the end of a suburban culdesac by the most excellent Hall & Mackenzie. Tricky to photograph (on a phone, under some bushes), but rest-assured this an original condition, stream-side gem.

…continue reading 31 Joyce Cr. GL Nicoll House. Hall & Mackenzie.

This original 60s house, designed by architect Joseph Moffat for his retirement, is hidden behind a solid concrete block wall and arranged around a swimming pool. The North facing full-height sliding glass wall of the living area is a sweet design touch and the type of feature that gave birth to the nauseating term ‘indoor-outdoor flow’.

…continue reading 56 Greers Rd. Moffat House. Grifiths, Moffat & Partners.

The Ilam cul-de-sac of Newbridge Pl is a honeypot for 60s gems. Amongst designs by Hall & Mackenzie, Warren & Mahoney and Don Cowey sits this striking family home built for a Lincoln University Professor. The main building is low pitched and concrete block, but nestles up against a two storey batten and board half-gable structure that contain the garage at a basement level and bedrooms above.

…continue reading 29 Newbridge Pl. Henderson House. Minson, Henning Hansen.

Very clean looking concrete block home with a T-shape plan. The long bedroom wing featuring a neat row of half gables and the garden borders the Waimairi Stream. A ripper.

…continue reading 87 Kahu Rd. Minson & Henning-Hansen.

The lovely angled roofline must have been a relief from the symmetry of 1960s suburban Christchurch and a good example of Peter’s early Scandinavian forms. The house has been added to and modified to suit the current tenants, the University of Canterbury Child Care.

…continue reading 116 Ilam Rd. Peter Beaven.

Designed to give maximum sun to as many rooms as possible, this concrete block and weatherboard design featured in the Christchurch Art Gallery Group Show, November 1963. Originally the blocks were painted white, but on the whole the home is well-preserved and still looks smart.

…continue reading 19 McDougall Ave. Hobbs House. Lawry and Sellars.

Compact 1940s weatherboard cottage in the style of Paul Pascoe, Vernon Brown & Humphrey Hall. Most definitely a home from the school of early NZ modernist architects who equated modernism with modesty.

…continue reading 60 Creyke Rd. Architect Unknown.

Built in 1960 to a brief for “lots of light”, this house delivers with large, square windows punched through the red brick walls and dormer skylights inside. The house was very modern for suburban Christchurch in its day and was one of the first homes in the city with electric underfloor heating, back when electricity was free.

…continue reading 16 Westburn Tce. Barton House. John Trengrove.

From the good people at Home & Building magazine: “This house has an area of 1500sq. ft including the double garage. The floor is concrete slab on the ground with timber framed brick veneer walls. The ceilings arw eplaster ansd softboard with a corrugated galvanised iron roof. The house was fiished in 1962 at a cost of 4500 pounds”.

…continue reading 32 Greers Rd. Powell House. Don Donnithorne.

The street elevation of this home is eye-catching with it’s vertical slit window and graphic detail that extends from the ground to the roof. A curved roof covers the garage and entrance way and overall the look is quite ecclesiastical.

…continue reading 9 Farnham Pl. Architect Unknown.