Otari

• 1910
• Construction of dwelling (00050: 3: 78)
• 1928
• Additions to dwelling (00056: 60: B5768)
• 1967
• Dwelling additions (00058: 493: C21235)
• 1972
• Dwelling additions and alterations (00058: 772: C34804)
• 1976
• Construction of shed (00058: 1052: C54779)
• 1990
• Dwelling additions and alterations (00059: 409: E20932)

Not assessed

Not assessed

This house was one of the first constructed by Chapman Taylor in cavity brick, and he used this material to his advantage. The palette of materials includes cement rendered masonry, Marseilles tiles, exposed Jarrah beams, and stained timber leadlight windows. This house features an L shaped plan, half bay windows in the sitting room, windows set high under the roof line, wide entrance porch, round ‘port hole’ windows, an inglenook surrounding the fireplace, and mullioned windows.

Chapman Taylor’s command of building block forms, chimneys, and openings was masterly, and he moulded and sculpted his buildings in true Arts and Crafts form. There is an enthusiasm, renewed excitement, and boldness in this buildings design and a variety of treatments have been used to interesting effect.

• Cavity brick
• Cement render
• Marseilles tiles
• Jarrah beans
• Stained timber leadlight windows 

Otari is an attractive, distinguished, example of the Arts and Crafts style as designed by Walter Chapman. The house is set in a quiet and maturely wooded street and is not visible from the street.  

• 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?

  Paterangi is an interesting and unusual example of the work of one of New Zealand’s most important domestic architects, J W Chapman-Taylor. The house is designed in an interwar transitional style that is best summed up as Moderne. It is an unusual departure for Chapman-Taylor who was best known for handcrafted houses in the Arts and Crafts style. 

• Association

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

  This house is primarily associated with James Walter Chapman Taylor, an important Wellington architect, and the city’s most prominent proponent of the Arts and Crafts Movement. It is also associated with prominent owners, firstly James H. Jerram, Deputy Manager of the State Fire Insurance Office, for whom the house was first built. It is also associated with Richard and Edith Campion who were well known members of the New Zealand theatre community, and the parents of award winning filmmaker Jane Campion. 

• Technological

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

  Otari was crafted by James Chapman Taylor by hand, and for this reason has technical value for what it can tell us about his techniques.

• 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 house has continuity value for its continued use as a residential dwelling for over 100 years. The house also contributes to the wider Thorndon suburb, as an area of architectural quality and interest.

• 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?

  The building retains functional use values and authenticity of design, materials, and workmanship.

• Representative

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

  Otari is an excellent example of James Chapman Taylor’s Arts and Crafts style.

• Local/Regional/National/International

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

  This house has local significance for its architectural merits, historic associations, technical values, and for its contribution to the identity and continuity of Makererua Street. 

Not assessed

• Siers, Judy. ‘Chapman Taylor, James Walter 1878-1951’. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 April 2007, accessed 6 August 2013
• Siers, Judy. ‘James Walter Chapman-Taylor in Onslow 1909-1954’, in The Onslow Historian, Volume 24, Numbers 1 and 2, 1994.
• 1972 Dwelling additions and alterations (00058: 772: C34804), Wellington City Archives
• 1976 Construction of shed (00058: 1052: C54779), Wellington City Archives
• Wellington City Archives
• 1910 Construction of dwelling (00050: 3: 78), Wellington City Archives
• 1928 Additions to dwelling (00056: 60: B5768), Wellington City Archives
• 1967 Dwelling additions (00058: 493: C21235), Wellington City Archives

• Inventory Report

Not available