One of the older buildings in St Martins and thought to date back to around 1865, this charming character house which has undergone a number of additions and modifications over time, suffered damage during the Christchurch earthquakes which is not easily seen on first inspection. The violent shifts in the earth left the building no longer square on its foundations and judged to be beyond repair.
Four years on and this much loved family home with its elegantly curved sweep of windows in the main living room is still due for demolition but there seems little chance that it will survive.
The semi-circular verandah is the striking feature of this house and still evident in the original part of the building are the wide floorboards secured by flat iron nails, ebony door plates and beautifully worked Kauri woodwork: each in their way, parts of the heritage of domestic architecture we can ill-afford to lose.