Restoration preserves heritage charm

On the sunny front veranda at 250 Kilmore Street, it’s easy to feel a sense of continuity with the city’s past. A sympathetic restoration has preserved this lovely little house, carefully honouring its heritage character.

Simone Rewa Pearson and Joe Tonner lived behind the compact old dwelling on Kilmore Street for eight years before purchasing it at an auction in 2016. Their Dawson Street home is just over the back fence from the 140-year-old house. From the very beginning, their desire was to safeguard its yesteryear charm – and, after a long journey, the detailed rebuild and restoration is now complete.

‘Money House’ is a quantum leap forward on the modest dwelling that early settlers Alfred and Annie Money built here in 1881. The old charm is intact, but the house today is stronger and so much more comfortable and functional, thanks to modern materials and a craft rebuild process. An inventor and entrepreneur, Alfred was active in local politics of the day and owned a steamer that used to run between the city and New Brighton. He was once the licensee of the Carlton Hotel. Alfred and Annie, who had no children, left a valuable estate that benefitted many worthy charities. After Alfred and Annie’s time, the dwelling was lived in by multiple generations of city workers whose varied occupations included lamplighter, telegrapher, plumber, compositor, coal merchant, and firefighter. Their stories live on in the house today, now open to guests as gracious five-star shortstay accommodation.

“Our focus has been on celebrating and enhancing the home’s unique character, from the high ceilings, picture rail, doublehung sash windows, timber floors, the traditional hallway entrance, and the bull nose front veranda,” says Simone. “Everything looks like it would have done in the past, but we now have a house built to modern standards that will still be here for another 140 years.”

Sharing the journey with Simone and Joe has been an experienced professional team, including project manager Dave Norriss, architect William Fulton, and builder Ross Bailey. (Incidentally, Simone and Joe’s Dawson Street home was also designed by William Fulton in a sympathetic heritage style.)

“It’s not very often that you get to engage with a project such as this and involving lots of different specialist operators,” says Ross. “I live in the central city too, and, for me, it has been a privilege to work on a home with such history. It could have been lost forever – I’m really proud that it will now get to stand for many a day into the future.”

An added bonus of this project for Simone and Joe is that they have also been able to protect a massive English Elm tree in their Dawson Street garden.

Funding from the Crown’s On-Sold scheme, administered by EQC, played a key role. Fixing earthquake-damaged foundations meant having to roll the house back 13 metres on its section while new screw pile foundations were installed. The house is now in its original spot but was slid one metre sideways to create a wider driveway. House Lifters provided lifting and levelling services as part of future-proofing the building on its site. It also sits much higher than it once did, and Simone and Joe lowered the fence along the front boundary to open it up to the street. Painted in deep red (Resene Aroha) and with a blue front door, the cheerful house with its pretty garden is now a real landmark.

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“We also added an ensuite and moved the kitchen to the heart of the home,” says Simone. “It looks old from the outside, but it’s modern living inside. We’ve kept original features like the kauri doors and the restored lattice work along the veranda, but much of what’s here now is new.”

The level of craft detail has to be seen to be believed, from the new doublehung, double-glazed sash windows to the heritage-style architraves, door frames and picture rails, and gorgeous new blackwood flooring. Today’s interior colour scheme is a restful palette of cream and pale blue. Through to Chester Street East from here, an older heritage fabric still holds sway. The small neighbourhood of modest homes, little lawns, and picket fences shares a lovely pocket park, Chesterfields. Across the road from 250 Kilmore are many new apartments and townhouses; this little workers’ home is like a colourful sentry, standing guard and serving as a treasured reminder of the people who built this city.

M 027 436 4255

E ross@rossbaileybuilder.co.nz rossbaileybuilder.co.nz