Two houses overlooking the Estuary. The brief was for “two bedroom apartments suitable for retired couples”. Not wildly exciting, but the architects did a pretty good job in comparison to the vomitous ‘over 60s’ duplex buildings scattered all over Christchurch.
…continue reading 235 Mount Pleasant Rd. Boulton House. Pascoe, Linton.
On the flat, the W&M roofs were steep and the chimneys monumentally tall. Here on the hillside, this 1965 house is low, boxy and clad in timber. The full width concrete balustrade is pretty tasty and a nice link to W&Ms more brutalist, commercial work..
…continue reading 17 Michael Ave. Langley House. Warren & Mahoney.
A well hidden gem up on the Cashmere hills designed for a Lincoln University Professor and his wife. It’s a killer house and unusual for Christchurch with it’s extensive use of glass and steel influenced by the American Case Study Houses. Excellent stuff.
…continue reading 843 Cashmere Rd. Walker House. Cowey & McGregor.
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.
If we had a dollar for every ugly aluminium conservatory / sun room added to a Christchurch Modern home we’d have at least $64. The house is guilty – $65 - but the original unpainted concrete blockwork outside and stunning timber detailing inside leaves all forgiven. The fireplace in the living room is a behemoth and a thing of beauty.
…continue reading 29 Cannon Hill Cr. Minson, Henning Hansen.
Aside from an unfortunate 20-year love affair with red brick, Don seemed to prefer timber for his houses, but he did occasionally build in concrete block and the results were almost always good. The wide, low pitched roof was popular with architects at the time, but the crows nest bedroom and chunky chimney set this house apart.
…continue reading 8 Sulby Rd. Don Donnithorne.
A 1967 home designed by Keith Anderson, one of the ‘young guns’ of post-war Christchurch architecture and a lesser known contemporary of Warren, Beaven, Cowey, Donnithorne et al.
Not a complete honey, with some little additions obscuring the original design, but the clever use of sliding doors inside and out make for a practical, open space with enviable views across the plains.
…continue reading 48 Whareora Tce. Price House. Griffiths, Moffat & Partners.
In the 1940s modernist architects like Pascoe & Hall and Stewart Minson were designing modest, flat-roofed homes in the unornamented International Style, but Heathcote Helmore was well known for his grand country manors. Clearly not oblivious to the new movement, he popped out this stunning little home on a hill – looks nicely original too.
…continue reading 45 Te Awakura Tce. Helmore & Cotterill.
A particularly smart 1970s example of the Christchurch style from a former W&M architect: exposed concrete block walls, steep tongue and groove pitched ceilings and a tall, rigid chimney giving an assertive finger to the imminent ban on open fire places in Christchurch.
…continue reading 14 Highbank Lne. Neil Hey.
A killer hillside home built in 1967 by a practice that was instrumental in the champion of unpainted concrete blocks in Christchurch house construction – a material once reserved for cheap, commercial applications. Exceptionally maintained, this home features living, eating and cooking upstairs with sleeping underneath. A neat studio was added off the living area three years after the home was built.
…continue reading 40 Whareora Tce. Fogden House. Griffiths, Moffat & Partners
