Kahn House

A modernist statement in a traditional suburb, Austrian born architect Ernst Plischke (1941) popped this beauty on top of a hill in Ngaio to serve as a family home and as an introduction to the new architectural style.

Plischke apparrantly stated that he had designed something similar for a friend in Austria. The striking features are The Kahns were also Jewish immigrants in Wellington to escape the Nazis, and their furniture was original, German made and also modern. The builder was H Bradshaw, and addition of a driveway and garage in 1963 was undertaken by Orchiston Architects, a kiwi-born modernist firm.

Less able to be seen from the road now, the Kahn house is still an anomaly in it's environment, and a good one. Modernism took on, Plischke had a great career and this house is now heritage listed. Many essays and discussions about the house concur that this home signals the beginning of modernism in New Zealand.

Original pictures are at the Alexander Turnbull Library.