Homes We Love: Takutai Street in Parnell was once a bullock track

Originally built for an Anglican Church bishop, this home has been in one family for the last 96 years, writes ROBYN WELSH.

Built 164 years ago, this stone home immortalises the early history of the Anglican Church in New Zealand, with one family’s 96 year-tenure adding colour to its latter story.

Bishop Selwyn commissioned this house in 1857 and it was one of the first Frederick Thatcher-designed stone buildings the church’s Parnell precinct near the Anglican cathedral.

Stonemason Benjamin

Strange built the house following his apprenticeship at Buckingham Palace, living here while he built nearby church buildings. Back then, this street was a bullock track from Hobson Bay and imported goods, including hymn books and stained glass church windows, were hauled up here.

Bishop Selwyn and visiting missionaries stayed in this house that was later home to the headmaster of St Stephens Maori Boys’ School.

In 1925, a newly-wed couple rescued the home from disrepair, adding the second storey. They were the grandparents of the current owner Tom Bowden, whose earliest memory is playing in the garden as a youngster during the 1960s.

Tom’s mother, Katharine Bowden, now aged 92, was born in the house which she inherited in 1987. Best known as the Ngunguru-based GP in Northland, she wanted to sell it, and it was Tom, the only one of her six children based in Auckland, who bought it.

For Tom, a health IT professional, this family home has been a source of fascinating stories fuelled by his love of research.

Built in the Georgian Gothic style, the Rangitoto stone house was framed with timber sawn on site from one kauri tree.

Inside, “lath-and-plaster” walls were built with horse hair-reinforced plaster applied over split totara planks, then wallpapered. The “rubblefilled” wall cavities were filled with stones gathered by local Ma¯ ori women.

The 1925 upstairs timber extension earned it a Historic Places Trust Category B rating, rather than the less stringent A rating.

This smoothed the way for Tom’s renovation designed by architect Belinda George. “The trust was very helpful and encouraging, as were the heritage team at the Auckland council,” he says.

This progressive five-year renovation included integrating outdated follies such as the maid’s room into the rear entrance and laundry.

“No one knew what to do with it. Belinda saw the possibilities we could not,” he says. .

From Tom’s new shell path past the original front fence, to the conservatory, pool, two new bathrooms and his signature Gothic cross, this house has brought a fourth generation into extended family celebrations.

“This is one of the most special homes in Parnell, with a magnificent blend of old and new. A home like this may not come to the market again in this lifetime,” says Bayleys agent Fleur Denning, who is marketing the property.

Of the decision to sell, Tom says, “This is a serious wrench, but it is time for a change.”

He is softening the blow with his purchase of Cotter House, another slice of Auckland’s history.

Sale: Auction, May 31

Contact: Fleur Denning, Bayleys, 021 027 23624

Back then, this street was a bullock track from Hobson Bay and imported goods, including hymn books and stained glass church windows, were hauled up here.