Rotten Row Baches - Taylors Mistake

A surviving throwback to the days when Kiwis didn't care whose land they built the bach upon. And in this case the land belonged to the Christchurch City Council so the dream of free holidays has lived to fight another day, and another.

Between the 1890s and the 1940s, shanties, baches, cave homes, huts and sheds popped up almost organically along the coast between Taylors Bay and Harris Bay and also in Hobson Bay. One of them is Whare Moki, New Zealands oldest surviving bach, built by the Hobson Family in 1891. The combination of their (summertime) occupation and probably their attractiveness, as well as public opinion saw the Council hold off again and again over enforcing their own sporadically issued and various removal, relocation and demolition orders for the 36 buildings. In 1979 Council burned a few down after deciding they were unsuitable due to not having electric toilets. A similar set survives at Boulder Bay.

Because they were built on the cheap by working and middle class Christchurch families, there is not much compliance about the buildings, but this doesn't seem to bother the owners and probably adds to the charm. They are all painted an array of kooky colours.

Now the issue is an endless game of beach volleyball, with Heritage New Zealand having protected at least the 19 called the 'Rotten Row' and the others continually making special status claims. They have organised themselves into a little lobby group with a picturesque presence on facebook. This stuff story claims that the end of the road has come, but the long chain of happenings over the past 130 years is convincing evidence that there may be future chapters to be written.

If you have an image or a story about the Taylors Mistake Baches, please feel free to send it in. Meantime, check out the wonderfulgallery full of such images collected by the Christchurch City Council and on permanent display at Matuku Takotako - Sumner Centre.

The 1957 Bill Sutton, work 'Untitled,Taylors Mistake,' which was never exhibited but ended up in the Christchurch Art Gallery after his death, played with the shapes and colours of the baches may have a played a part in their increasingly romanticised status.

Baches and Cribs of New Zealand by Nathan Secker featuring several Taylors Mistake and Boulder Bay Baches