House

• unknown
• 11 Farm Road, dwelling (00047:8:416)
• 1975
• 11 Farm Road, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:969:C42475)

• 1907
• Frederick and Emma Platt
• 1967
• George and Christine Kydd
• 1972
• John and Jennifer Rutledge

Not assessed

The house at 11 Farm Road is sited on the crest of a rise but it is most discreet in the streetscape because of large hedges and trees in the front garden. It is a single storey timber-framed house of bay villa form with a high gable to the left and a verandah stretching to the right. The gable is elaborately decorated with dog tooth moulding, roundels, moulded panels, and coloured glass, and is a very authentic and special example if what was the most singular feature of the bay villa house. The verandah has been altered by its partial enclosure with weatherboards and glazing.

The foundations of the house are concrete, the cladding rusticated weatherboards, while the roof cladding is corrugated iron. Apart from the front gable, the roof has a hipped form; the original chimney with corbelled brickwork is still intact. The interior is reported to contain very high quality joinery and plasterwork, including an over mantel and built-in furniture in the living room and dining room. Interior linings are lath and plaster. The survival of these features is no doubt due in part to the long occupancy (60 years) of the original owners.

Concrete foundations

Rusticated weatherboards

Brickwork chimney

Lath and plaster

Painted corrugated iron roof

The house occupies an elevated, east facing rise, on Farm Road, Northland. 11 Farm Road is one of four houses on Farm Road constructed by the Platt family, and is very similar in style to No. 13 (1910). The house is constructed on a gentle slope with landscaped terraces at the rear. It is approached by a flight of steps up a steep rise from the footpath on Farm Road. The house has a large front lawn with a Pohutukawa tree, a mature Ti Kouka, and other native plants along the fence.

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  This house is of architectural value is a representative of a single storey villa of the early 20th century. It has some special features including the ornate front gable, and joinery, and plasterwork.

• Group

  Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

  This house has group value as one of four houses built by the Platt family of a similar style and age of the others in the cluster.

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  This house has historical significance for its association with the Platt family and the contribution that they made to the development of the city.

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  The risk is unknown, but there is pre-1900 activity associated with the area.

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  There is technical value for the evidence it provides of materials and construction methods from the time. Its construction with the Platt family enhances this value.

• Identity/Sense Of Place/Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  This house contributes to the sense of place and continuity in Northland due to the retention of its original features and its long standing place on the street.

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  This house retains a significant amount of authenticity having had few exterior modifications.

• Local/Regional/National/International

  Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  This house is of local significance due to its association with the Platt family, who were notable Wellington tradesmen around the turn of the century, as a representative of a bay villa, and for the contribution that it makes to the streetscape in Northland.

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  This house is a good representative of a timber bay villa from the turn of the century. It is constructed in materials, and using techniques, that were common to the period.

Not assessed

• Kelly, Michael, and Chris Cochrane, ‘11 Farm Road’. Unpublished heritage assessment. Prepared for the Wellington City Council, 2001.
• Cooper, Theresa. ‘Frederick Platt’s Former Residence – 11 Farm Road, Northland’. Unpublished conservation plan, 2006.
• Archives: 1907 11 Farm Road, dwelling (00047:8:416)
• Archives: 1975 11 Farm Road, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:969:C42475)

• Inventory Report

Not available