New Plymouth Buildings
The architectural make-up of New Plymouth since European settlement stretches from the early cottages of the1840s to the shiny steel-plated exterior of the planned Len Lye Centre. In between has come the transition from timber buildings to concrete, the art deco of the 1930s and the modernism of the 1960s. While a few private residences remain from the early days of European settlement, the Central Business District looks nothing like early paintings and photos. The early wooden buildings have mostly been demolished or destroyed by fire to be replaced by larger reinforced concrete premises. Both commercial and domestic buildings feature in this topic, which can be searched either by the age of the building or its location.
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Explore New Plymouth Buildings on the map below - buildings in blue are still standing in their original location; those in red have been either demolished or shifted outside New Plymouth District/to an unknown location; those in purple have been relocated within New Plymouth District.
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A permit was granted to Grocer's Assistant Frank Ernest Gadd Jnr for the construction of a residence in Norman Street on the 11th of December 1922, Gadd was noted as the builder and the estimated construction value of the bungalow cottage was £650.
Gadd worked in his father's (Frank Ernest Gadd Snr) grocery business, which was located on the North side of Devon Street, just west of the Liardet Street intersection.
This building on the corner of Currie and Powderham Streets was built in 1896 for the Australian firm, Sargood, Son & Ewen Ltd. The firm was founded in Melbourne in 1848 and in 1863 set up their first New Zealand branch in Dunedin.
The company had leased premises in Devon street before erecting this building in Currie Street. It was designed by local architect James Sanderson and Mr C.Webberley was in charge of the build.
In 1901 a second storey was added to
This building on the corner of Currie and Powderham Streets was built in 1964 for Taranaki Newspapers Limited. The two daily newspapers (Taranaki Herald and Daily News) had just merged and new premises were needed for the Daily News.
The old Sargoods warehouse on the corner was demolished in August 1964 and work began on the new building. The contractors were Riddick Bros. & Still for an estimated cost of £176,000.
In the mid-1980s the neighbouring Currie Street buildings
In the early 1980s the print media was still a booming industry. New Plymouth boasted two daily newspapers, the Daily News (now the Taranaki Daily News) in the morning and the Taranaki Herald in the late afternoon. Both were published by Taranaki Newspapers Limited (TNL).
Prior to the formation of TNL in 1962 the Daily News had been run from Roebuck House on the western corner of Currie and Powderham Streets. TNL then purchased the Sargood Son and Ewen Ltd. building on the opposite corner. This was
This attractive early bay villa was constructed during the mid-1880s for accountant Paul Champion Morton and his wife Mary Lewis Morton.
The recently subdivided allotment at the corner of Devon Street West and Cutfield Road was purchased by Mary Lewis Morton during September 1886, with the present house constructed as the Morton's family home soon after.
The Morton's appear to have resided in the house until Mary's death in 1903, after which
Little is currently known about the history of this cottage, although it was probably constructed in the mid-1860s for Thomas Clare following the conclusion of the Taranaki Wars. There has been some suggestion that the cottage may be pre-1860, although this seems unlikley given Charles Clare's original two-storey home (probably on this section) was destroyed in 1860.
The original portion is the eastern section, mainly clad in plain weatherboard, but with some vertical board and
On the 3rd of November 1906, a permit was granted to the wife of prolific New Plymouth builder George W. Hartnell for the construction of a residence on the vacant western portion of Town Section 35, Hine Street - the architect/builder was George W. Hartnell, and the estimated construction cost was £277.
The house was constructed in the villa style and was nearly identical in appearance to the two villas at present 48 and 50 Hine Street, also constructed by Hartnell just a year later.
The villa at 46 Hine Street was either removed or demolished during 2005
This doctor's surgery was located at 131 Powderham Street, on the corner of Powderham and Dawson. Designed by architect Frank Messenger in 1901-2, with additions made in 1912, it has since been demolished and replaced by the offices of Nicholsons Lawyers.
2018 View
This large single storey villa appears to have been constructed in the 1890s, possibly for New Plymouth ironmonger Alfred Hughes Arnold and his family, although land ownership for the later decades of the nineteenth century is somewhat unclear.
Alfred’s wife, Emily, is first listed in electoral rolls as residing on the ‘Hospital Road’ (now Mangorei Road) from 1896, whilst Alfred is simply listed as residing at ‘New Plymouth’ until 1898, when he is listed as residing on the
National Bank of New Zealand (Puke Ariki collection, WD.017151)
The National Bank of New Zealand first opened a branch in New Plymouth in April 1873. These first premises were in Devon Street - where the Deare's Building is located - and in 1878 the bank purchased a section on the south-east corner of Brougham and Devon Streets.
Construction of the building
