Amber House is one of the older two-storey villas in New Zealand's third founded city of Nelson in the top of the South Island at 46 Weka Street.
It is a traditional colonial-style construction using native Rimu and Matai timbers with an external brick chimney that originally served four large fireplaces.
The original, highly decorated, cast iron sewage vent pipes are still intact and visible on the exterior of the building.
From 1906 until 1927 Amber House housed a "Boarding and Day School for Girls and Little Boys" known as Cabragh House School operated by the Hornsby family from Ireland. Edwardian photographs of both the scholars and the school have been preserved. [1]
Amber House preserves a small section of its original unfaded wallpaper from the late 19th century that was revealed during recent renovations.
Because New Zealand has had for the last two centuries (and continues to have) the highest ultraviolet exposure levels of any populated region on earth it is extremely rare to find used (as opposed to unused roll) examples of Victorian era wallpaper in New Zealand that have not faded badly.
This remarkable state of preservation is rather surprising considering that Nelson competes yearly with its neighbours Richmond and Blenheim for claiming the highest number of sunshine hours in the country, with an annual average total of over 2,400 hours.
Of particular interest is the tall brick chimney on the west side of Amber House that has survived major earthquakes in 1929 (Arthur's Pass and Murchison), 1968 (Īnangahua) and 1994 without a single crack blemishing its surface.
There has been speculation that, because deep below Amber House are separate beds of shale and sand, these strata have acted like a naturally occurring analogue of the earthquake resistant [2] of the Parliament House in Wellington to reduce the incidence of short periodicity lateral waves at Amber House during earthquakes.
The evident resilience of this old chimney means that it is even possible that it pre-dates the 1893 magnitude 6.9 Nelson earthquake that moved the spire of Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson nearly a metre out of the vertical plane. [3]
Amber House has the oldest English Walnut tree (Juglans regia) in the South Island in the back garden. Although old, this venerable tree is relatively small since, when it was originally planted, it would have been only yards from the original shoreline and on very sandy soil with the roots lacking an adequate water supply. This desiccation has resulted in an almost Bonsai like effect.
ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city, surrounded by Cathedral Square. It became the cathedral seat of the Bishop of Christchurch, who is in the New Zealand tikanga of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
The Yarralumla brickworks, also known as the Commonwealth Brickworks, was one of the earliest construction projects in Canberra, Australia. It was built in the suburb of Yarralumla to produce the bricks used to build many of Canberra's early buildings. It opened in around 1913 and operated until its closure in 1976. It is known for producing the bricks used to build itself.
Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The bay has been filled in to a considerable extent, with the reclamation area now totally concealing the ancient shoreline. Historically a poor and often disreputable quarter, it is now a comparatively wealthy and desirable neighbourhood known for its mix of heritage homes and more recent single-dwelling houses, as well as for its two large parks.
The Wellington Cathedral of St Paul is an Anglican church in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Wellington and the cathedral of the Bishop of Wellington. Situated in Thorndon, the main entrance to the cathedral is on Hill Street, at its junction with Molesworth Street; it is located close to the parliament precinct.
Parnell is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's most affluent suburbs, consistently ranked within the top three wealthiest, and is often billed as Auckland's "oldest suburb" since it dates from the earliest days of the European settlement of Auckland in 1841. It is characterised by its mix of tree lined streets with large estates; redeveloped industrial zones with Edwardian town houses and 1920s bay villas; and its hilly topography that allows for views of the port, the Waitematā Harbour, Rangitoto Island and the Auckland Domain. To its west lies the Auckland Domain, to the south Newmarket, and to the north the Ports of Auckland.
Grafton is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is named for the Duke of Grafton, a patron of the first Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, and the grandfather of a subsequent Governor, Robert FitzRoy. Once known as 'Grafton Heights', denoting its history as a well-off suburb in Auckland's earliest decades.
The Diocese of Nelson is one of the 13 dioceses and hui amorangi of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand, which is mostly the area north of a line drawn from Greymouth to Kaikoura.
Cabragh House is a late Victorian, timber house at 48 Weka Street in Nelson, New Zealand built circa 1897. It is an historic site for exemplarising late Victorian furnishings and provincial New Zealand vernacular architecture. The neighbouring Amber House, the former site of the Cabragh House School, is pending registration as a New Zealand Historic Place.
The architecture of New Zealand, though influenced by various cultures, expresses predominantly European styles. Polynesian influences emerge in some areas.
Christ Church Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in upper Trafalgar Street, Nelson, New Zealand with seating for 350 people. It is 58 metres in length and 27 metres wide. The tower is 35 metres high.
The Nelson Provincial Museum, Pupuri Taonga O Te Tai Ao is a regional museum in the city of Nelson, New Zealand. The museum showcases the Nelson and Tasman regions' history, from geological origins to the stories of individuals and families.
The 1888 North Canterbury earthquake occurred at 4:10 am on 1 September following a sequence of foreshocks that started the previous evening, and whose epicentre was in the North Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre was approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Hanmer.
The Cathedral Church of Christ the King, also called Christ Church Cathedral, is an Australian cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Newcastle in the Anglican Church of Australia. The building, designed by John Horbury Hunt in the Gothic Revival style, is located on a hill at the city's eastern end in the suburb called The Hill. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 28 June 2011.
Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green space including Hagley Park, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and the Barbadoes Street Cemetery.
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Fairfield House in 48 Van Diemen Street, Nelson, New Zealand, is registered with Heritage New Zealand as a Category I structure. Originally built in 1849, today's house was constructed as a residence for Arthur Atkinson in 1872. It was at some stage owned by the Nelson College for Girls, who used it as a boarding house. After the 1929 Murchison earthquake, boarders from Nelson College also moved in, as their hostel got damaged. The house was given to Nelson City Council in 1979 and was threatened with demolition. A community group formed that had the objective of saving the house. Alan Stanton moved into the derelict building as a squatter and started restoring it. Today, it is a community centre.
Stafford Place at 61 Redwood Road, Appleby, New Zealand, is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I structure.
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Riccarton House is an historic building in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is part of the Riccarton estate, the first area in Christchurch lived in by white settlers, after which the suburb of Riccarton is named. The house was commissioned by Jane Deans, the widow of Canterbury pioneer John Deans, and finished in 1856. It was twice extended; first in 1874, and the work carried out in 1900 more than doubled the size of the house. The Riccarton estate has in stages become the property of Christchurch City Council and Riccarton House itself was sold by the Deans family to the city in 1947. Damaged by the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the repaired and renovated building was reopened in June 2014. Riccarton House is used as a restaurant and for functions, and a popular market is held on Saturdays in front of it.