Napier Hill Colonial Houses

On the hill above the city are fine examples of early colonial homesteads. Built of native hardwood, instead of brick and mortar, they withstood the violence of the 1931 earthquake.

The seaside city of Napier is one of the world’s best preserved centres of Art Deco architecture, thanks to the dedicated work of the local Art Deco Trust to safeguard the buildings constructed after a devastating earthquake in 1931. The Trust’s success in promoting Napier as a haven of the Classical, Spanish Mission and above all, the confident Art Deco style that reflected the social and technological changes sweeping Europe at that time, has done a much to enhance the city as a tourist destination.

The focus on art deco, however, tends to overshadow Napier’s older – and some would say – more important architecture. On the hill above the city are fine examples of early colonial homesteads. Built of native hardwood, instead of brick and mortar, they withstood the violence of the 1931 earthquake. They date from the mid 19th century and have splendid views out to sea, over the town and southern reaches of the city, to the Mahia Peninsula in the north and to the stark cliffs of Cape Kidnappers to the south east. With such panoramas, it’s little wonder that the wealthiest among the early settlers of the surrounding farming province of Hawkes Bay built grand houses on the hill, several of them more than 15,000 square feet in size.

Some of the largest have been pulled down; their timber used to rebuild many houses on the subdivided property. However, a walk or drive along the streets of the hill reveals grand old survivors, characterized by generous size, high ceilings, wide entrance halls, grand staircases and fireplaces, stained glass windows and French doors opening to wrap-around verandas.

Balquhidder House, at the end of a street by the same name, is just such a house - a handsome, heart-kauri dwelling built in the 1880s. Although a wing was later removed to provide timber for two houses, it remains a substantial home. Wharema (Maori for ‘white house’) built nearly a century ago on Thompson Road is another good example, as is Colenso House on Colenso Avenue and Coleman House in George Street. Highcliff, in Seapoint Road on Bluff Hill, was originally built for a wealthy grazier named Kinross White as his “townhouse” and included servants quarters and a school room.

The Mount, now called the Large House after its original owner, James Large, was built in stages from 1858. Then there’s the original farmhouse in Clyde Road, built in 1856 when the hill was in use as farmland. And still rising from the Clyde Road ridge is the original Bishop’s Court. Later villas, houses such as McHardy House at the end of Chaucer Road and Te Whare in Cobden Road, are now boutique hotels. The last-named was built about 1870 for the Kettle family, who held regular musical soirées in the conservatory.

While some of Napier’s charming colonial buildings (including the Hawke’s Bay Club at the foot of Bluff Hill) are cherished, there are also old beauties that are crying out for attention.

These old colonial houses need a champion – like Napier’s Art Deco Trust.