The Paua House was a tourist attraction in the southern New Zealand town of Bluff, but now on display at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
The Paua House was a tourist attraction in the southern New Zealand town of Bluff, but now on display at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
The Paua House was originally just a standard New Zealand bungalow located at 258 Marine Parade, Bluff. [1] The house was owned by elderly couple Fred and Myrtle Flutey, who built up a massive collection of ornaments and trinkets made from the iridescent shells of the pāua, a New Zealand species of abalone often used for souvenirs and items of kitsch. Over the course of some 40 years, the couple adorned the house with these ornaments, and also with the cleaned shells of pāua found by the Fluteys on the local beach. By the time of the couple's deaths (Myrtle in 2000, Fred on New Year's Eve 2001) [2] the walls of their lounge were covered with over 1,100 shells, [3]
In 1979, New Zealand photographer Robin Morrison visited the house, and included it in his book The South Island of New Zealand From the Road (1981). The house's inclusion in the book helped establish the house as a tourist attraction, and made the owners Fred and Myrtle Flutey local celebrities. [4] [5] The Fluteys were playing host to thousands of visitors per year, with some reports suggesting one million people visited the house during the 37 years that the collection was built up. [2]
When the Fluteys died, the house was purchased by their grandson, Ross Bowen. Despite protests from locals who wished the house to stay in its shelled condition, Bowen loaned the Fluteys' collection to Canterbury Museum in Christchurch on a ten-year loan. Parts of the house were recreated by the museum and opened to the public in 2008. [6] It was seen by some quarter of a million museum visitors in its first two years on display. [7]
The University of Canterbury is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbury College, the first constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's second-oldest university, after the University of Otago, which was founded four years earlier, in 1869.
Bluff, previously known as Campbelltown and often referred to as "The Bluff", is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southernmost town in mainland New Zealand and, despite Slope Point and Stewart Island being further south, Bluff is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country. According to the 2018 census, the resident population was 1,797, a decrease of 6 since 2013.
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The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was established in 1867 with Julius von Haast – whose collection formed its core – as its first director. The building is registered as a "Historic Place – Category I" by Heritage New Zealand.
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Pāua is the Māori name given to three New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae.
Robin Morrison was a New Zealand documentary photographer, best known for his unpretentious portrayal of New Zealand countryside, everyday life and quirky architecture. His photos can be described as unearthing memories of his childhood in the process of exploring the place as it is now.
The Bluff Maritime Museum is located in New Zealand's southernmost port of Bluff. The museum is situated on Foreshore Road and contains an extensive collection of Bluff's maritime heritage.
Cabestana tabulata, common name the shouldered triton, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cymatiidae.
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A shell grotto is a type of folly, a grotto decorated with sea shells. The shell grotto was a popular feature of many British country houses in the 17th and 18th centuries. It suited the Baroque and Rococo styles and often represented the mimicry of architectural features from the Italian Renaissance. The idea of a grotto was originally a means to enhance a dank undercroft, or provide an antechamber before a piano nobile, but later it became a garden feature independent of the house, sometimes on the edge of a lake, with water flowing through it.
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Saskia Leek is a New Zealand painter.
Jenny Gwynndd Harper is a New Zealand academic and museum professional. She was most recently the director of Christchurch Art Gallery.
Mary Townsend was an artist and an early English settler in Canterbury, New Zealand.
Eléna Gee is a New Zealand jeweller known for her combination of metal work with organic materials, specifically pāua shell. She was a prominent figure in the Bone, Stone, Shell movement in 1980s New Zealand. She has had a long career with her work touring around Asia and Europe.
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