House

Huia Publishers

39 Pipitea Street, , Wellington
❰ ❱
Photo: Charles Collins, 2015
Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
Cityview GIS 2012
Cityview GIS 2012
Map

  • Constructed

    c.1880 - c.1890

  • Architect(s)

  • Builder(s)

  • 39 Pipitea Street is a good representative example of a two-storey Italianate villa. It is notable for the pair of two-storey bay-windows on its well-detailed northern façade. 

    39 Pipitea Street has a representative history that is typical of many of the large, upper-middle class family homes of Thorndon in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is one of a group of older, single household houses on Pipitea Street that have survived the redevelopment of the area into a commercial office precinct. 

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  • close History

    • 39 Pipitea Street is a two-storey Italianate villa set within a precinct of housing, embassies, commercial and public sector buildings in north-eastern Thorndon. The house appears to have been built in the late 19th century, but is difficult date as the original permit and plans cannot be found. The 1892 Thomas Ward survey map shows a slightly smaller, but still substantial, six-roomed dwelling that had one bay and a verandah on its main elevation (rather than the present two bays), with two more bays on its east elevation. It is unclear whether the earlier house was removed, demolished or adapted to create the current two-storey bay villa on this site.

      The building has had several notable occupants. Frank Waldegrave (d.1924), under-secretary in the Department of Justice and later Commissioner of Police, occupied the house from c.1896 until 1909. A civil servant his entire working life, Waldegrave was at the height of his career during his period of occupation of the house. His daughter Mary married the son of Sir Harry Atkinson, Premier of New Zealand four times, and the reception was held at the family home in Pipitea Street in 1905 (as was the reception for his other daughter Muriel’s wedding later that year).

      The Waldegraves were followed by Bernard Litchfield, an auditor at the Bank of New Zealand. The house was purchased by Charles Bidwell in 1924. He was a member of a well known Featherston sheep farm family, and occupied by his mother, Ida Bidwell for 23 years until her death in 1946. It was during her occupancy that a fire broke out in which six of the 10 rooms were damaged and the remaining four were affected by heat, smoke and water.

      In 1947 British Petroleum purchased the building and it remained a branch office until 1962. In 1968 it passed into Crown ownership and was subsequently occupied by an assortment of organisations, including the New Zealand Electricity Department, the Office of Chief Inspector of Explosives & Dangerous Goods and the Messenger & Cleaning Service of the Department of Internal Affairs.

      Throughout its life the building has undergone significant modifications. A number of additions and alterations, which are not visible from the street, have been made to the side and rear of the house.

      Today the house is occupied by Huia Publishers, an independent New Zealand book publisher that produces books with a New Zealand or Pacific perspective, including books for learning Māori. In 2006 Huia published the first Māori monolingual dictionary.

    • Modifications close
      • c.1880 - 1890
      • The building was constructed.
      • 1924
      • Fire damages six of the rooms, and four are affected by heat, smoke and water
      • 1963
      • Building additions – reinstate lavatory. (00058:307:C13369)
      • 1989
      • Re-piled. (00040:2:E681591)
      • 2002
      • Small ground floor extension to rear of building and 50 sq m 1st floor addition and internal alterations to ground floor level.
      • 2008
      • Alterations to line of existing foul water drain. (00078:3376:184550)
    • Occupation History close
      • 1896
      • (at least, and probably earlier also) – Frank Waldegrave.
      • 1910
      • Bernard Litchfield
      • 1924
      • Mrs Ida Bidwell
      • 1948
      • British Petroleum Co of NZ Ltd.
      • 1971
      • NZ Electricity Department
      • 1980
      • Department of Internal Affairs (Messenger & Cleaning Service) and Office of Chief Inspector of Dangerous Goods.
      • 1990
      • Commissioner for Children, and Pacific Islands Employment Development Board
      • 1994
      • Commissioner for Children
      • 1998
      • Huia Books
  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      This house is an Italianate villa, with two carefully detailed doublestorey bay windows on the front facade, complete with brackets, string courses, and cornices that follow the profile of the bays. The house is clad in rusticated timber weatherboards. The fenestration is unusual in that it features both arched heads on double hung sashes and plain headed sash windows (probably added later) on side elevations, and arched fanlights over sash windows on the front elevation.

      Originally, this must have been a handsome villa; however only the street facade remains uncluttered by the accretions and additions at the sides and rear, which are unsympathetic to the profiles of the original.

    • Materials close

      The building is clad in rusticated timber weatherboards.

    • Setting close

      No. 39, although largely hidden by a large magnolia tree, lends an air of permanence and historical character to Pipitea Street. It is one of the few surviving early or original single-household upper-middleclass domestic-residences that were once the predominant building type in north-eastern Thorndon. Many of these houses have been replaced with high-rise or high-density modern office, commercial and residential developments. Others, like this building, have been converted into offices, embassies or multi-unit dwellings.

      Its immediate eastern neighbour at No. 37 is a sympathetically designed, modestly scaled modern accommodation building. A driveway to the east of this building leads towards the multi-storey St Paul Apartments. Two two-storey timber houses complete the street block towards Mulgrave Street. The first is the 1924 William Gray Young house that houses the Fiji High Commission (WCC ref 18/250), the second is a much altered corner building that is similar in age and style to its high commission neighbour.

      The immediate neighbour to the west, at No.41, is the 1920s brick and clay-tile Neo-Georgian house (WCC ref 18/252) which served as a ministerial residence. Modern high and low-rise commercial buildings complete the street-block to Molesworth Street. Modern townhouses of bland taupe and teal occupy the northern side of Pipitea Street. These adjoin the perennially empty lots and vacant buildings that are awaiting redevelopment.

      Further east along Pipitea Street is Wellington Girls College a large secondary school with a diverse range of buildings, and the Cook Islands High Commission, a two storey Italianate villa (WCC ref 18/442) wedged uneasily in the corner of the new Revera House on Mulgrave and Pipitea Steets. Another building of note in the precinct is the Old St Paul’s Cathedral (WCC ref 18/221 & HPT Category I) at 34 Mulgrave Street and the Thai Embassy is also nearby.

  • close Cultural Value

    39 Pipitea Street is a good representative example of a two-storey Italianate villa. It is notable for the pair of two-storey bay-windows on its well-detailed northern façade.

    39 Pipitea Street has a representative history that is typical of many of the large, upper-middle class family homes of Thorndon in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is one of a group of older, single household houses on Pipitea Street that have survived the redevelopment of the area into a commercial office precinct.

    • Aesthetic Value close

      • 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?

        39 Pipitea Street is a good representative example of a two-storey Italianate villa. It is notable for the pair of two-storey bay-windows on its well-detailed northern façade.

      • 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?

        The building is one of a group of older, single household houses on Pipitea Street that have survived the redevelopment of the area into a commercial office precinct.

      • Townscape

        Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?

        The building is one of a group of disparate but visually-connected two-storey Italianate villas in this part of Thorndon.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

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

        The house has particular significance for its association with notable civil servant Frank Waldegrave and the southern Wairarapa farming family of Bidwells, particularly Ida Bidwell. 

      • Association

        Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

        39 Pipitea Street has a representative history that is typical of many of the large, upper-middle class family homes of Thorndon in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is one of a group of older, single household houses on Pipitea Street that have survived the redevelopment of the area into a commercial office precinct. 

    • Scientific Value close

      • Archaeological

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

        Central City NZAA R27/270, Pre-1900 Building.

    • Social Value close

      • 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?

        The building’s street façade has had few intrusive modern alterations over the past 100 years and it makes a strong positive contribution to the sense of place and continuity in an otherwise ever-changing streetscape.

    • Level of Cultural Heritage Significance close

      • Local Regional National International

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

        The building has local significance 

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      18/ 251

    • Legal Description

      SEC10 SO 36509

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      Not Listed

    • Archaeological Site

      Central City NZAA R27/270, Pre-1900 Building.

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      SR Completed / 124 Notice

  • close Additional Information

Last updated: 11/27/2017 3:00:37 AM