House

• 1940
• Abbott Street, dwelling (00056:256:B21092)
• 1950
• Abbott Street, shed (00056:382:B29376)
• 1958
• Abbott Street, garage (00058:53:C2635)
• 1973
• Abbott Street, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:860:C38311)
• 1980
• Abbott Street, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:1268:C53790)
• 1991
• Abbott Street, garage (00059:464:E22576)

• unknown
• (not assessed

Not assessed

12 Abbott Street is a representative example of the domestic dwellings designed by Chapman Taylor, and although it has been through a number of changes since its construction in 1940, the house remains recognisably the same but with the floor plan a little altered.

The house was originally a single storey, two bedroom, modest Arts and Crafts style cottage. The plan has a small hall giving access to all rooms. The living and dining area was to the south-west corner of the house, with the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom occupying the remainder of the space. One of the main features of the house is the Scandinavian style fireplace in the living room. The bathroom had a sunny position on the west side of the building; a lean to at the east housed the laundry and back porch. The houses was simply finished in roughcast plaster, Marseille tiles on the gabled roof and lean to, and finished with heavy, dark painted timber joinery with the windows subdivided into small lights.

Apart from changes to the kitchen and bathroom, the addition of an internal stair to service the loft, and the relocation of the laundry (to make a larger dining area), the floor plan and street appearance of the house today is substantially the same as it was in 1940. The most obvious addition from the street is the 1980 dormer window and elevated roof section beyond, which was added for the establishment of a bedroom in the loft area, and while this is awkwardly done, it is at least in matching materials, and blends with the house adequately. A four square and typical Chapman Taylor chimney rises from the centre of the roof.

The most dramatic addition to the house is the 1973 Roger Walker tower, which rises above a second lean to at the rear of the property and served originally as a sunroom and study. It has a sympathetic colour scheme and palette of materials to the house (concrete pipe enclosing a stair, and timber superstructure) and is surrounded by substantial trees. It is set back sufficiently far to read as a distinct building.

Roughcast plaster,

Marseille tiles on the gabled roof and lean to,

Heavy, dark painted timber joinery

This house is situated on the eastern side of Ngaio on a southern slope. Its elevated position provides open views to the south and west above the surrounding residential area. The site has many mature trees and plants. A simple modern picket fence separates the house from the street, and a gabled double garage and lean to, completed in 1991, is located in the south west corner of the site.

The immediate area contains mainly single residence dwellings, of a variety of styles and eras, scattered around the hillside as the topography dictates. There are many mature trees and the houses appear in a sea of greenery. The wider setting is the residential neighbourhood of Ngaio, which has houses from all eras including the heritage area of Tarikaka Street railway settlement cottages, to modern townhouses. 

• 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 has architectural value for both its substantially original appearance and plan form and the dramatic later tower addition; the house is representative both of the hand made Arts and Crafts work of Chapman Taylor and of the unique style of design popularised in the 1970s by Walker (and others) which first brought architecture in New Zealand to international attention.

• 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?

  12 Abbott Street has a high group value with the other Chapman Taylor houses in the Onslow area.

• 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 house has some streetscape value as it adds visual interest to the road.

• Association

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

  This house has historical associations with two well known New Zealand architects – Chapman Taylor, who is New Zealand’s best known exponent of the Arts and Crafts style and later, Roger Walker.

• Technological

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

  There is technical interest in the remaining original fabric of the building and the 1970s tower, as both are examples of the off-mainstream construction of their times.

Not assessed

• 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 has had some modifications, the most obvious being the insertion of the dormer window to the street façade and the Roger Walker addition in the back yard, but retains significant original material from the time of its construction.

• Local Regional National International

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

  The house at 12 Abbott Street is of local importance for its overall heritage values. 

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  This house is one of ten surviving Arts and Crafts houses designed by Chapman Taylor in the Onslow area, for this reason it has rarity values.

• Representative

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

  12 Abbott Street is a good representative of the Arts and Crafts movement in New Zealand as designed by a prominent proponent of the style, J.W. Chapman Taylor.

Not assessed

• Historic Places Trust, ‘Chapman-Taylor, J.W.’, Professional Biographies, accessed 6 August 2013
• Murray, Russell. 12 Abbott Street – House. Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 53, 2005.
• Siers, Judy. ‘Chapman Taylor, James Walter 1878-1951’. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 April 2007, accessed 6 August 2013,
• 1940 12 Abbott Street, dwelling (00056:256:B21092)
• 1950 12 Abbott Street, shed (00056:382:B29376)
• 1958 12 Abbott Street, garage (00058:53:C2635)
• 1973 12 Abbott Street, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:860:C38311)
• 1980 12 Abbott Street, dwelling additions and alterations (00058:1268:C53790)
• 1991 12 Abbott Street, garage (00059:464:E22576)

Not available

Not available