Egmont Chambers, STRATFORD (List No. 9737, Category 2) - Heritage New Zealand
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New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero – Report for a Historic Place Egmont Chambers, STRATFORD (List No. 9737, Category 2) Egmont Chambers (Joanna Barnes-Wylie, Heritage New Zealand, 22 June 2020) Blyss Wagstaff Last amended 8 September 2020 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
1. IDENTIFICATION 4
1.1. Name of Place 4
1.2. Location Information 4
1.3. Legal Description 5
1.4. Extent of List Entry 5
1.5. Eligibility 5
1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition 5
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION 5
2.1. Historical Information 5
2.2. Physical Information 13
2.3. Chattels 20
2.4. Sources 20
3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT 21
3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment 21
3.2. Section 66 (3) Assessment 22
4. APPENDICES 25
4.1. Appendix 1: Visual Identification Aids 25
4.2. Appendix 2: Visual Aids to Historical Information 30
4.3. Appendix 3: Visual Aids to Physical Information 34
4.4. Appendix 4: Significance Assessment Information 38
Disclaimer
Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero identifies only the heritage values of
the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of
its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary
conditions.
Archaeological sites are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, regardless of
whether they are entered on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero or not. Archaeological sites include
‘places associated with pre-1900 human activity, where there may be evidence relating to the history of New
Zealand’. This List entry report should not be read as a statement on whether or not the archaeological
provisions of the Act apply to the property (s) concerned. Please contact your local Heritage New Zealand office
for archaeological advice.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Purpose of this report
The purpose of this report is to provide evidence to support the inclusion of Egmont Chambers in the
New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 2 historic place.
Summary
Egmont Chambers, built in 1920, has historical significance as a physical testament to a period of
Stratford’s development when it experienced growth as a provincial service centre for the surrounding
dairy farming industry. A substantial office building for a law firm, it signifies the town’s maturation
and also reflects the second generation of the town centre’s commercial and public building stock in
the interwar years, a phase that has defined the character of Stratford’s central business district. The
building has architectural significance as an enduring and elegant example of the Stripped Classical
style, with a clear design connection to prominent and prolific Stratford architect John D. Healy’s other
work in the town centre.
Previously thickly forested, there is little evidence of permanent Māori settlements in the vicinity of
Stratford, although the area was traversed by many people travelling along the Whakaahurangi Track,
near to the future town site. Stratford was laid out in 1877 by the colonial government, and developed
steadily to become the district’s main hub for the surrounding farmland. As export commodity prices
boomed during World War One, Stratford’s commercial and public building stock began to transition
from Victorian timber premises to more substantial masonry structures, a change which picked up
pace during the 1920s, despite fluctuations in the economy. Law firm Rutherfurd, Macalister and
Coleman were amongst the town’s businesses that had prospered enough to commission the
construction of a purpose-built office building, in Fenton Street, at the south of the town centre.
Prominent architect John D. Healy designed the two-storey reinforced concrete building, to be known
as ‘Egmont Chambers’, in the Stripped Classical style popular at the time. Distinguished by the
restrained classical decoration of its front façade, featuring a cornice supported by bracketing and
decorative fluted corbels at each end, Healy’s design drew on elements of a decorative scheme he had
employed six years earlier in the building’s near-neighbour Otago Chambers (including the pilaster
strips and the frieze bearing the building’s name), and in the 1916 Municipal Building (such as sharp-
edged keystones projecting above each window opening, and inset panels providing a textured
contrast with the otherwise smooth finish). Healy’s legacy of stylistically-related business premises
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 3
along Broadway and the surrounding streets demonstrates the significant impact he had on Stratford’s
built landscape.
Egmont Chambers opened on 4 September 1920 and continued as legal and accountancy offices for
nearly a century, also being well-used as a meeting space for many companies, societies and clubs. In
2016 it entered a new phase when Till Henderson Lawyers moved out, and new owners Stuart
Greenhill and Jo Stallard enacted their vision of restoring a heritage building for use as a space for
creative activities, living, and a café, art gallery and gin distillery. Having been little altered except for
minor changes in 1979 to the interior of the ground floor, the building required substantial
refurbishment as well as earthquake strengthening. Between 2017-2018 they carried out this work,
remodelling the upstairs to transform the series of offices into a loft-style apartment, and paring the
interiors back throughout to celebrate the bones of the building and the artwork adorning it. Since
opening in October 2018 with a contemporary black paint scheme on the exterior, the Fenton Street
Arts Collective has been credited with injecting new energy into Stratford.
1. IDENTIFICATION1
1.1. Name of Place
Name
Egmont Chambers
Other Names
Fenton Street Art Collective
1.2. Location Information
Address
11 Fenton Street
STRATFORD
Taranaki
Additional Location Information
E1710742.06; N5644544.09 (NZTM)
1
This section is supplemented by visual aids in Appendix 1 of the report.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 4
Local Authority
Stratford District Council
1.3. Legal Description
Pt Allot 6 DP 436 and Defined on DP 3880 (RT TN97/38), Taranaki Land District2
1.4. Extent of List Entry
Extent includes the land described as Pt Allot 6 DP 436 and Defined on DP 3880 (RT
TN97/38), Taranaki Land District, and the building known as Egmont Chambers thereon.
(Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information).
1.5. Eligibility
There is sufficient information included in this report to identify this place. This place is
physically eligible for consideration as a historic place. It consists of a building fixed to land
which lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand.
1.6. Existing Heritage Recognition
Local Authority and Regional Authority Plan Scheduling
Not scheduled in Stratford District Plan, Operative 19 February 2014.
2. SUPPORTING INFORMATION
2.1. Historical Information
The town of Stratford lies at the base of the eastern slopes of Taranaki Maunga, also known
to Māori as Pukehaupapa or Pukeonaki.3 Traditions tell of the mountain’s defeat by Tongariro
in a competition to win the beautiful Pihanga’s heart, and retreat from the central North
Island to its present location, carving the Whanganui River in its trail. Taranaki Maunga is of
immense cultural and spiritual significance to the iwi of the region.
2
Please note that this legal description aligns with the Land Information New Zealand records for this property. Quickmap
and the Heritage New Zealand database, Pātaka, refer to this land parcel as being Pt Subdivision 6 Tn of Stratford Sec
331, Taranaki Land District.
3
Ron Lambert, 'Taranaki region - The mountain', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/taranaki-region/page-3, 2009 (updated 2015), accessed 7 April 2020
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 5
Stratford is located within an area that has a particular association with Ngāti Ruanui, whose
ancestor Ruanui’s grandfather Turi landed with his people in the Aōtea waka.4 They settled at
the mouth of the Pātea River, which runs through Stratford on its journey south from the
slopes of Taranaki Maunga. The western half of Stratford town is also overlapped by the rohe
of Ngāruahine, who share ancestry with those who came on the Aōtea and Te Rangiamutu
waka.5 The rohe of Ngāti Maru extends from inland Taranaki across the northern part of the
town; Ngāti Maru trace their origins to Maruiwi of the original tangata whenua people, and
Maruwharanui, whose ancestors arrived on the Aotea and Tainui waka.6
Previously thickly forested, there is little evidence of permanent Māori settlements in the
vicinity of Stratford, although the area was traversed by many tribes.7 A few kilometres east
of the future town site ran the Taranaki region’s most prominent north-south pathway, used
for centuries as people travelled between Kairoa Pā near Lepperton and Ketemarae near
Normanby.8 This was known as the Whakaahurangi track, named from Ngāti Ruanui
chieftainess Ruaputahanga’s mid-sixteenth century journey back to her South Taranaki home
as she fled unhappy marriages. She followed an old war-trail south, and camped for the night
near modern Stratford, where her party observed that she slept on her back: ‘whaka-
ahurangi’ means ‘facing the heavens’.9 Another tradition relates the name to her looking at
the sky when snaring ducks.10 Today this connection is remembered through the name of
Stratford’s Whakaahurangi Marae, established in the 1970s by the Ahitahi hapū of Ngāti
Ruanui.11
4
Tony Sole, 'Ngāti Ruanui', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, URL http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ngatiruanui/, 2005
(updated 2017), accessed 6 April 2020
5
Te Puni Kōkiri, ‘Te Kāhui Mangai: Directory of Iwi and Māori Organisations’, URL
http://www.tkm.govt.nz/localauthority/stratford-district-council/, accessed 7 April 2020; Ngāruahine and The Trustees of
Te Korowai o Ngāruahine Trust and the Crown, ‘Ngāruahine Deed of Settlement’, 1 August 2014, URL:
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Ngaruahine/Ngaruahine-Deed-of-Settlement-1-Aug-2014.pdf, accessed 14
July 2020
6
Te Puni Kōkiri, ‘Te Kāhui Mangai: Directory of Iwi and Māori Organisations’; Te Runanga o Ngāti Maru Taranaki, ‘Evidence
of Karl Burrows and Holden Hohaia for WAI 1609 claim’, URL: http://ngatimaru.co.nz/about-us/, accessed 14 July 2020
7
Evidence of camps for seasonal activities have been found on the slopes of Taranaki Maunga west of Stratford, and in the
hills to the east of the town. There is only one site in Stratford recorded in the New Zealand Archaeological Association’s
site recording scheme, Archsite. Q20/37, located on Avon Street about a kilometre from Egmont Chambers, was where a
large kumete (bowl) was found in swampy ground in 1995.
8
John Houston, Maori Life in Old Taranaki, Reed Publishing (NZ) Limited, Auckland, 1965 (2006 edition), pp. 42-44
9
ibid; Tony Sole, Ngāti Ruanui: A history, Huia Publishers, Wellington, 2005, pp. 91-95
10
Ian Church, The Stratford Inheritance: a history of Stratford and Whangamomona counties, NZ Heritage Press, Waikanae,
1990, p. 13
11
Stratford District Council, ‘Whakaahurangi Marae, URL https://www.stratford.govt.nz/live/community-
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 6
In 1842 agents of the New Zealand Company cut a bridle path along the Whakaahurangi
track, to make travel between the fledgling colonial settlements of New Plymouth, Wanganui
and Wellington easier.12 In early 1866, the incursion of imperial forces under the command
of Major General Trevor Chute also travelled along this route on their infamous ‘forest
march’.13 Tensions between Māori and Europeans had been simmering in the region since
the establishment of New Plymouth in 1842 put pressure on Māori to sell their land.14
Outright war between the Crown and Te Ātiawa erupted in March 1860.15 Taranaki Māori
joined Te Ātiawa in defending Māori land, and fierce fighting occurred around the region,
including Chute’s devastating ‘scorched earth’ campaign of retaliation in South Taranaki.16
In 1863 the Crown enacted the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, allowing for the
confiscation of Māori land without compensation.17 This, along with a further proclamation
by the Governor in 1865, created three confiscation districts which covered most of Taranaki,
formalising colonial encroachments that were already occurring, despite continued fighting.18
The future site of Stratford lay within Confiscation District 2, the Ngatiawa district. Although
tensions lasted into the 1870s, the colonial government took control of the province,
negotiated purchase of the Waipuku-Patea Block from the Ahitahi hapū, and in 1874 vested
the land around Stratford in the Taranaki Waste Lands Board.19
facilities/whakaahurangi-marae, updated February 2020, accessed 7 April 2020; Taranaki Regional Council, ‘Contact
Whakaahurangi Marae’, URL https://www.trc.govt.nz/council/working-with-iwi/iwi-contacts/ngati-
ruanui/whakaahurangi-marae/, accessed 7 April 2020
12
Houston, 1965, pp.100-101
13
David Green, 'Chute, Trevor', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of
New Zealand, URL: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1c17/chute-trevor, accessed 16 April 2020
14
Benjamin Wells, The History of Taranaki: A standard work on the history of the province, Capper Press, Christchurch, 1976
(originally published: Edmondson & Avery, New Plymouth, 1878), pp.85-87
15
The general reluctance of Taranaki Māori to sell land to the colonists, and conflict over who had the authority to sell, were
factors. The political situation for iwi was further complicated in 1848 by the return home of Te Ātiawa people who had
been displaced by the invasions of Waikato tribes in the 1820s. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 'War in Taranaki 1860-
63: Fighting begins', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/taranaki-wars/fighting-march-june-1860, updated 1-Nov-2019,
accessed 16 April 2020
16
Ngāti Ruanui and Her Majesty the Queen, ‘Deed of Settlement of the historical claims of Ngāti Ruanui’, 12 May 2001, URL:
https://www.govt.nz/assets/Documents/OTS/Ngati-Ruanui/Ngati-Ruanui-Deed-of-Settlement-12-May-2001.pdf, pp. 28-
30
17
This Act delivered long-lasting and devastating consequences for Māori who it deemed to have been in ‘rebellion’ against
the Crown.
18
Waitangi Tribunal, The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi (WAI 143), Legislation Direct, Wellington, 1996, pp. 118-124
19
Development was delayed by the impacts of Ngāti Ruanui leader Riwha Tītokowaru’s response to the land confiscations
and Imperial offensives in South Taranaki - after losing hope in his quest for peaceful reconciliation he turned to war in
1868, winning a series of victories against the British before retreating to the north. James Belich, 'Tītokowaru, Riwha -
Titokowaru, Riwha', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated April 2011, Te Ara - the
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 7
Early Stratford
In 1873 construction of a railway line began from New Plymouth, and the Mountain Road
(State Highway 3) was developed inland of the mountain from 1874.20 These promised
transport links greatly improved the prospects of the province and attracted more settlers,
aided by Julius Vogel’s public works and assisted immigration scheme.21 In June 1877, the
Taranaki Waste Lands Board ordered the survey of 300 acres for a town at the Mountain
Road’s junction with the Patea River.22 The settlement’s name, Stratford-upon-Patea, was
suggested by Board member William Crompton - a fan of English poets - and many of the
streets were named after Shakespearean characters, including Fenton Street.23
On 31 August 1878 the first auction of Stratford town sections was held. Although only a
fraction of the 455 sections initially sold, William Dawson Webster bought Section 331, the
largest section, for the highest price: £180.24 This was prime real estate, on the south-west
corner of the Broadway (Mountain Road)/Fenton Street intersection.
The railway reached Stratford in 1879, and, fuelled by the growth of the dairy industry on
surrounding farmland, the town’s population grew steadily.25 Fenton Street developed
through a mix of residential, business, recreational and educational use. Section 331 initially
passed fairly quickly through the hands of various property speculators.26 It was probably
Encyclopedia of New Zealand, URL https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t101/titokowaru-riwha, accessed 29 April 2020.
The Waste Lands Board was constituted under the Taranaki Waste Lands Act 1874 to administer the development and
sale of confiscated land. Wells pp. 263-264. The purchase of the 20,700-acre Waipuku-Patea Block for £3,200 was
negotiated by ‘deed of cession’, a method which came before the West Coast Commission hearings of 1880 due to issues
over dubiously reserved lands. David Walter, Stratford: Shakespearean town under the mountain, a history, Dunmore
Publishing, Wellington, 2005, pp. 7-8
20
Wells, 1976, p. 293
21
Gail and Ron Lambert, An Illustrated History of Taranaki, Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 1983, p.70; 'Vogel's vision',
URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/the-vogel-era/vogels-vision, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, updated 30-Apr-
2018, accessed 6 May 2020
22
Wells, 1976, p. 264
23
Ron Lambert, 'Taranaki places - Stratford', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/taranaki-places/page-9, 2009 (updated 2016), accessed 5 May 2020. Fenton is a character
in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
24
Campbell McAllister, Old Taranaki and its mountain, Millwood Press, Wellington, 1976, p. 45; Record of Title TN8/47, Land
Information New Zealand
25
Stratford District Council, ‘History and Heritage’, 2013, URL: https://www.stratford.govt.nz/council/about-
stratford/history-heritage, accessed 20 March 2020; McAllister, 1976, p. 37
26
Henry Weston, proprietor of the Taranaki Herald, purchased it in 1882 along with its neighbouring Section 370. In 1885 it
was bought by the Bank of New Zealand, who in 1886 sold it on to Elizabeth Ellen Tocker. Mrs Tocker lived in the
Wairarapa during the five years of her ownership, before the title officially passed to her son, William Loftus Tocker, in
1891. RT TN8/47, Land Information New Zealand; RT TN16/193, Land Information New Zealand; Papers Past, ‘Taranaki
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 8
William Loftus Tocker who constructed a dwelling on the property sometime around 1887.27
Tocker, who counted architect, valuer, land speculator, and local politician as professions, was
first elected to the Town Board in 1888 and later served as its Chair and as a County
Councillor.28 In August 1891 he subdivided five allotments from the eastern boundary of
Section 331, followed by a sixth - the future site of Egmont Chambers - in March 1892. James
Aitken bought three of the lots for a rumoured high price of £500, owning them for three
years before the National Bank of New Zealand purchased them and built its premises on the
corner part.29
Egmont Chambers
It was 25 years before Subdivision 6, the lot west of the National Bank building, changed
hands again. By this time dairy farming was established ‘as the heart of Taranaki prosperity’
and Stratford was well-developed as a farming service centre, with the usual supporting
commercial infrastructure, including legal services.30 Solicitors Elliot Stanley Rutherfurd,
Sinclair Macalister and Alfred Coleman purchased the section in 1919.31 The lot was cleared
of its large trees and surveyed for their new office building, to be known as ‘Egmont
Chambers’.32
Herald’ publication history, National Library of New Zealand, URL:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/taranaki-herald, accessed 15 May 2020; ‘Pioneer Colonists’, Wairarapa
Daily Times, 17 July 1907; Death Certificate 1907/5472, Births Deaths and Marriages Online - Te Tari Taiwhenua Internal
Affairs, accessed 15 May 2020
27
Deposited Plan 386, Land Information New Zealand, surveyed in August 1891, shows the location of the dwelling, slightly
overlapping a corner of what would later become Subdivision 6, the site of Egmont Chambers. Tocker is recorded in
newspaper articles from 1887 as living on Fenton Street, complaining about the open drain in front of his residence:
‘Stratford’, Taranaki Herald, 11 November 1887; ‘Stratford & Ngaire [sic]’, Hawera & Normanby Star, 12 November 1887.
It is also possible that the dwelling was built earlier, most likely during the three years of Henry Weston’s ownership
(1882-1885) although Weston lived in New Plymouth at that time so Tocker, listed on the record of title as an architect, is
a more likely candidate for building the dwelling; RT TN16/193, Land Information New Zealand.
28
Tocker was a strong advocate for improvement of Stratford’s infrastructure. ‘Stratford’, Taranaki Herald, 25 September
1888; for example ‘Stratford’, Taranaki Herald, 14 March 1890; ‘Stratford News’, Taranaki Herald, 31 March 1892;
Walter, 2005, p. 193
29
Deposited Plan 386 (12 August 1891); Deposited Plan 436 (5 March 1892); Record of Title TN24/280 (issued 9 May 1892),
all Land Information New Zealand; ‘Stratford & Ngaire’, Hawera & Normanby Star, 19 December 1895; ‘Stratford News’,
Taranaki Herald, 11 January 1897
30
Gail and Ron Lambert, 1982, pp. 98-99. In 1923 three law firms and a number of independent legal practitioners were
listed in the Stratford Trades directory of Wise’s New Zealand Post Office Directory, H. Wise & Co. (N.Z.), Dunedin, p. 2334
31
The purchase was not memorialised on the title until June 1920, however the construction tender notice and survey plan
(DP 3880, surveyed 10 November 1919) show plans were underway earlier. Record of Title TN97/38, Land Information
New Zealand.
32
The construction of the National Bank at the north-eastern corner of Sec 311 in 1896 required the felling of the trees
‘which have long made quite a rus in urbe [illusion of countryside] of that part of Broadway’, ‘Stratford News’, Taranaki
Herald, 9 April 1896. In photos dated 1900 and 1914-1919, large, well-established trees were still visible on the future
site of Egmont Chambers, indicating that the site remained undeveloped until 1919-1920. See McAllister, 1976, p. 48 and
Stratford District Centennial Committee, Stratford District Centennial 1878-1978, Stratford District Centennial Committee
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 9
Although Rutherfurd, Macalister and Coleman had practiced together since at least 1915,
working from offices elsewhere on Fenton Street, the new building coincided with the
partnership they were forming with Samuel Spence, to take effect once the offices were
ready.33 Business confidence was high; at the same time the firm also opened a branch in
Hāwera, staffed by Alfred Coleman’s brother Arthur.34 As well as legal services, they
advertised loans and accountancy.35 All of the men were well-connected in Stratford’s
business and social circles.36
Architect John David Healy (1868-1934) received the design commission. Healy, born in New
Plymouth but resident in Stratford during his career, had trained as a builder before
qualifying as an architect. He advertised his services from at least 1902, soon regularly calling
for tenders for the construction of new buildings, as well as repairs, alterations and
additions.37 Over the next 32 years he published at least 173 tender notices for jobs around
Taranaki, illustrating the scale of his success.38 He was the architect to the Stratford Hospital
Board and the Stratford Racing Club, building much of that infrastructure, as well as a
of the Stratford Borough Council, 1978, p. 58. Tocker’s dwelling bordered the southwest corner of Subdivision 6 (see DP
436; DP 386, Land Information New Zealand); that building would have been removed prior to the construction of the
Newton King buildings. Documentation for the choice of name for Egmont Chambers was not found; inspiration may
have been taken from other Taranaki buildings named Egmont Chambers: in Pātea (1880s) and New Plymouth (1902).
33
Spence, Rutherfurd, Macalister and Coleman had partnered in various combinations since at least 1912. Spence,
Rutherfurd and Macalister were barristers and solicitors, and Alfred Coleman was also a public accountant and auditor.
‘Personal’, Stratford Evening Post, 14 December 1912; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 3’, Stratford Evening Post, 28
January 1913; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 3’, Stratford Evening Post, 29 April 1915; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column
3’, Stratford Evening Post, 9 August 1915; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 3’, Stratford Evening Post, 6 April 1918;
‘Stratford’, Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1919
34
‘Local and General’, Stratford Evening Post, 5 January 1920
35
For example ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 5’, Stratford Evening Post, 9 September 1920. Alfred Coleman was also a
public accountant and auditor, ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 3’, Stratford Evening Post, 29 April 1915
36
Elliot Stanley Rutherfurd and Alfred Coleman were both Borough Councillors; Rutherfurd was a member of many sporting
clubs and a churchwarden at the Holy Trinity Church, and Alfred Coleman had served as County Clerk. Sinclair Macalister
was a director of the Taranaki Investment and Deposit Corporation, a Captain of the Home Guard in World War Two,
President of the Taranaki Scottish Society and active on the Board of the Stratford Technical High school. ‘Page 1
Advertisements Column 5’, Stratford Evening Post, 9 September 1920; NZ Gazette 1941 p.3953; ‘Scottish Patriotism’,
Stratford Evening Post, 9 September 1921; ‘Local and General’, Stratford Evening Post, 3 October 1922; Walter, 2005,
pp.189-191; ‘Page 6 Advertisements Column 4’, Stratford Evening Post, 15 April 1914
37
‘Page 5 Advertisements Column 4’, Taranaki Herald, 1 November 1902
38
Stratford Evening Post, Taranaki Herald, Taranaki Daily News 1902-1934; for detail see Blyss Wagstaff, ‘John D. Healy
tender notices’, unpublished file note 15 July 2020, copy on Heritage New Zealand file 12009-1320. Tender notices were
not necessarily published for every job, so are not representative of Healy’s full oeuvre. For example, other known
designs include the prominent house ‘Glen Stuart’ in New Plymouth, Kete New Plymouth, URL:
ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/new_plymouth_buildings/topics/show/2051-glen-stuart-19-bracken-street-
circa-1912-13, accessed 16 July 2020.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 10Stratford borough councillor and founder of the Stratford A&P Association.39 His architectural
range was diverse, from over 45 houses, to churches, hospitals, grandstands, shops, offices,
garages, and dairy factories around Taranaki.40 He had a particular impact on Stratford’s built
landscape, designing many houses and prominent commercial and public buildings, including
a swathe of business premises on Broadway, and the Stratford Municipal Buildings. His
influence at the western end of Fenton Street was also clear: he designed Egmont Chambers’
near-neighbour Otago Chambers, built for lawyers Halliwell & Thomson in 1914, and
alterations and additions to the Newton King vehicle and machinery centre buildings in
between the two law offices.41
Healy called for tenders for the erection of two-storey offices for Messrs Rutherfurd,
Macalister and Coleman, in reinforced concrete, in December 1919.42 Mr W. Simmons won
the construction contract for around £5000.43 By 4 September, the new premises were open
for business.44
The whole of the building was not required by the law firm so a portion was promoted as
being available for lease for offices ‘for which there is even now a fair demand in Stratford.’45
Inaugural tenants were property and stock agent F.H. Barnitt, and William Power, who was a
public accountant, auditor, insurance agent and company secretary.46 The combined contacts
of the building’s occupants, plus its spacious and well-appointed Board room, meant that it
was well-used as a meeting space for many company, society and club meetings over the
years.47 In 1928 it also became the office of the Stratford Loan and Deposit Company,
39
‘Death of Mr J.D. Healy’, Stratford Evening Post, 24 November 1924
40
Healy designed the dairy factories at Midhirst, Riverlea, Cardiff, Douglas, Pungarehu, Awatuna, Rahotu, Toko, and
Kaponga.
41
‘Page 6 Advertisements Column 2’, Stratford Evening Post, 24 January 1913; ‘Page 6 Advertisements Column 4’, Stratford
Evening Post, 12 December 1913
42
‘Page 8 Advertisements Column 6’, Taranaki Daily News, 12 December 1919
43
‘Stratford’, Taranaki Daily News, 6 January 1920; ‘Page 8 Advertisements Column 3’, Stratford Evening Post, 8 July 1920
44
‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 4’, Taranaki Daily News, 14 July 1920; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 7’, Stratford
Evening Post, 4 September 1920
45
‘Stratford’, Taranaki Daily News, 6 January 1920
46
Power was the secretary for the Taranaki War Relief Association, Taranaki Investment & Deposit Corporation, Stratford
Racing Club, Pembroke Co-op Dairy Company and the Stratford Demonstration Farm Society ‘Page 1 Advertisements
Column 7’, Stratford Evening Post, 4 September 1920; ‘Power, William’, in Ancestry.com, New Zealand, Who's Who in
New Zealand and the Western Pacific, 1908, 1925, 1938 [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations,
Inc., 2014, URL https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/search/collections/6207/, accessed 3 April 2020
47
For example, Stratford Racing Club, Stratford Golf Club, Gun Club, Stratford Co-operative Building Society, New Zealand
Society of Accountants, Stratford Chamber of Commerce, Taranaki Provincial War Relief Association, Stratford
Demonstration Farm Society, Stratford Returned Soldiers’ Association, Technical High School Board. ‘Stratford’, Taranaki
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 11possibly when William Power moved to other premises.48 Madame Marie of the Hollywood
School of Dressmaking offered classes from the building in 1933, a rare departure from the
usual law and commerce focus.49
Egmont Chambers made the news for a different reason in 1942, when it was reported that:
‘An unwelcome client who arrived neither by appointment nor for consultation
entered the offices of solicitors [Rutherfurd and Macalister] at Stratford yesterday and
did damages to the premises before being ejected. The visitor was a cow half-blind
and bellicose from being driven along Fenton Street [to the Newton King
saleyards]…suddenly she dived into the legal office. After astounding the staff, the
animal charged along a passage, disregarding professional etiquette as well as the
obstacles in her way, and entered the washroom. Here the visitor knocked a hand-
basin from its fitting on the wall, causing a large piece to drop off. Apparently disliking
the legal atmosphere, she took the drastic method of obtaining fresh air by putting her
head through a window frame... Whether she was satisfied with this legal advice she
may have been seeking, or whether she thought the interview was too expensive, she
was more tractable after departing.’50
Legal services remained the primary occupants of Egmont Chambers for nearly 100 years.
The partnerships of the law firm continued to evolve, tracing its lineage to the founding
partnership through Elliot Rutherfurd, the longest-serving member of the original firm.51 The
1979 iteration, Buchanan, Butler & Hudson, made rare alterations to part of the building,
creating a larger reception area on the ground floor with suspended ceilings and a new
reception desk.52 Aluminium window joinery may have been installed at this time.
Daily News, 8 July 1920; ‘Stratford Gun Club’, Stratford Evening Post, 17 January 1921; ‘Local and General’, Stratford
Evening Post, 2 April 1921; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 1’, Stratford Evening Post, 30 April 1921; ‘Page 1
Advertisements Column 2’, Stratford Evening Post, 2 December 1921; ‘District Matters’, Stratford Evening Post, 8
February 1922; ‘Taranaki War Relief Association’, Stratford Evening Post, 31 May 1922; ‘Page 1 Advertisements’, Stratford
Evening Post, 4 June 1924; ‘Demonstration Farm’, Stratford Evening Post, 16 July 1924; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column
2’, Stratford Evening Post, 22 October 1924; ‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 1’, Stratford Evening Post, 21 August 1926
48
‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 1’, Stratford Evening Post, 29 September 1928; ‘Page 3 Advertisements Column 3’,
Stratford Evening Post, 21 Dec 1928
49
‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 2’, Stratford Evening Post, 27 June 1933
50
Walter, 2005, pp. 57-58
51
ES Rutherfurd and TL Andrews merged with Young, Callahan and Buchanan in 1966, becoming Callahan, Buchanan and
Andrews; in 1977 the firm became Buchanan, Butler and Hudson. In 1985 it changed to Buchanan, Butler and Rai, before
being taken over by New Plymouth firm Till Henderson King in the late 1990s, who had been resident in the building since
1968. Walter, 2005, p. 259
52
Terry Boon & Company Architects, ‘Alterations to Buchanan Butler & Hudson Offices, Fenton Street Stratford’, December
1979, unpublished architectural plans, Stratford District Council Archives
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 12In 2016 its use as law and accountancy offices finally came to an end, when Till Henderson
Lawyers shifted to the building next door.53 Egmont Chambers then started a new chapter
when it was purchased by Stuart Greenhill and Jo Stallard, who had a vision for restoring and
repurposing a heritage building as a multifunctional space combining a café, art gallery, gin
distillery, residential apartment and art studio/writing dens. After an extensive search
throughout the North Island, they found Egmont Chambers, by then in need of repair.
Between 2017-2018 the building was structurally strengthened and remodelled including
replacing the windows with double-glazing, installation of a kitchen downstairs, removal of
the 1979 suspended ceilings and paring the interiors back to celebrate the bones of the
building. Architect Jono Murdoch designed a loft-style apartment upstairs, made easier by
couple’s well-visioned creative brief.54
Since opening the Fenton Street Art Collective in October 2018, Egmont Chambers has been
celebrated not only for its fine café, artwork and boutique gin, but also for the revival of the
building’s fortunes and the flow-on effects this has had for the town.55 The renovations won
the Housing-Alterations and Additions section award at the NZIA Western Architecture
awards in 2019.56
Associated List Entries
N/A
2.2. Physical Information
Current Description
Egmont Chambers is located towards the western end of Fenton Street, which crosses
Broadway/State Highway 3 at the southern edge of Stratford’s CBD. One building west of the
intersection, Egmont Chambers forms the eastern end of a stretch of heritage buildings on
the block’s southern side between Broadway and Miranda Street. The Pātea River runs along
53
Till Henderson Lawyers, Facebook post, November 2016, https://www.facebook.com/tillhendersonlawyers/#_=_,
accessed 20 July 2020
54
Lyn Barnes, ‘Inside a home-turned-gallery café: A nomadic couple return to Stratford and launch the Fenton Street Arts
Collective’, thisNZlife, URL: https://thisnzlife.co.nz/inside-a-home-turned-gallery-cafe-a-nomadic-couple-return-to-
stratford-and-launch-the-fenton-street-arts-collective/, accessed 19 March 2020
55
Stratford District Council Chief Executive Sven Hanne said the Fenton Street Art Collective development was one which
was promising for the town, made the council excited and showed faith in the town. ‘Demolition work under way in
Stratford centre, ahead of redevelopment plans’, Taranaki Daily News, 17 May 2019
56
‘Taranaki buildings take top spots in architectural awards’, Taranaki Daily News, 11 May 2019
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 13the rear of the properties in a deep channel. The former Newton King machinery and vehicle
centre (built early twentieth century) is bookended by Egmont Chambers at its eastern end,
and at its western end by Otago Chambers (List No. 925, Category 2 historic place, built
1914). Egmont Chambers and Otago Chambers, although interrupted by the modern façade
added to the former Newton King buildings, share a special relationship through their design
by the same architect (John D. Healy) and purpose, both being built as offices for law firms.
The Egmont Chambers building, painted completely black with a red door, is prominent in the
commercial streetscape of this block of Fenton Street. Two-storeyed and rectangular in plan,
the reinforced concrete building is distinguished by its Stripped Classical front façade and
evenly-spaced fenestration.
The façade is divided by rhythmical vertical and horizontal elements, leaving an impression of
symmetry although that is not quite the case. Two rectangular window frames alternate with
two doors at the ground level; each is set into a section (wider for the windows, narrower for
the doors) demarcated by pilaster strips which rise the full height of the façade, interrupted
only by a frieze and cornice above the second storey. The main clear-glass entrance door,
leading to the ground floor, is slightly offset but balanced by a tongue and groove timber
door at the western edge of the façade, which offers direct access to the second floor. Both
doors have fanlights above, and all windows and door frames are topped by a single sharp-
edged projecting keystone. A string course signals the second storey and forms the sill level
for the four windows on that level, which match the placement of the doors and windows
below.
A flat-topped parapet adds extra height and presence to the front facade. Between this and
the windows of the second storey, the decorative scheme continues with a cornice,
supported by bracketing and a decorative fluted corbel at each end. Below this, a row of
dentils tops a frieze bearing the legend ‘Egmont Chambers.’ Rectangular panels inset above
each door and window, and along the top of the parapet, provide a pebble-dash textured
contrast to the smooth and crisp finish of the rest of the exterior. Panels of the same textured
material stretch along the span of the façade at ground level, below the string course at sill
level of the ground floor windows. All of the original double-hung sash windows in the
building have been replaced with double-glazed black aluminium-framed awning windows;
each features colonial glazing bars to mimic multipaned steel joinery.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 14On the eastern elevation, the second storey is again delineated by a string course, and five
windows on each level are spaced evenly along. The northernmost of those windows on the
upper storey is double-width, and the southern two are smaller at each level. There are no
windows along the western façade, as there is only a very small gap between Egmont
Chambers and the neighbouring building. The southern elevation contains four windows on
each storey; the westernmost two being larger than the eastern ones. The ridgeline of the
gable roof is visible above this elevation.
The main front door enters into an open-plan café/gallery space, with a small shop area and
timber service counter to the left and seating to the right. The heavy steel columns, beams
and cross-braces inserted in 2017-2018 to strengthen the building have been left exposed,
and lighting services run along cable trays that hang from the high ceilings. Where walls were
removed during the 1979 alterations this is easily traceable through marks on the concrete
floors and rough stubs left protruding from the ceiling, exposed by the removal of the
suspended ceilings that had been installed in 1979. The industrial aesthetic has been
softened with artwork, furnishings and an airy white paint scheme, creating a visually
engaging, vibrant interior.
A central corridor leads through a doorway with fanlight above, towards the rear (south) of
the building, past original offices now repurposed as a kitchen, meeting room, distillery and
additional café seating.57 The original strong room, accessed to the right through a metal safe
door, now functions as a storage room. Toilets are located at the southeast corner. The
southern half of the ground floor retains its original floorplan, the only change being the
removal of a partition that formerly screened the men’s urinal, to create an accessible toilet.
Stairs turn from the café area opposite the service counter and lead up through a small door
to the second storey, arriving beside the external access stairway. On this level the original
office layout has been the most altered, removing the walls of some of the offices along the
eastern side of the building to transform the series of small rooms into a residential
apartment. The main open-plan living space contains a kitchen and lounge area, utilising the
former strong room as kitchen storage. Structural steel inserts crisscross the ceiling and
frame openings where walls have been removed, and a steel roller-door screens the laundry
57
The current kitchen has been installed in what was noted as ‘Office 6’ in the 1979 alteration plans, the distillery occupies
‘Office 8’, ‘Office 5’ is a meeting room and additional café seating now inhabits former ‘Office 7’. Terry Boon & Company
Architects, ‘Alterations to Buchanan Butler & Hudson Offices, Fenton Street Stratford’, December 1979, unpublished
architectural plans.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 15utilities, contrasting aesthetically with the original ceiling roses (shifted sideways from the
former hallway).
The former Board room (south west corner) retains the original moulded plaster ceiling,
unpunctuated by the steel beam and columns that sit below it. Broad-reed glass office doors,
some with original signwriting, have been reused in the new bathroom and the writing den.
Towards the north-eastern corner, an internal patio/garden-room has been created by
inserting aluminium-framed glass partition walls and widening the external window opening
in the eastern wall. The room at the north-western corner has been enlarged by the removal
of a wall (its trace visible on the concrete floor), creating a spacious art studio flooded with
light.
Contextual analysis: Stratford’s commercial, public and civic buildings
Stratford’s first boom was during the 1890s, when ‘the population increased almost six-fold,
and new buildings and businesses mushroomed’.58 Historic images from the turn of the
twentieth century show a commercial streetscape of predominantly timber Victorian
buildings.59 The 1910s saw the town’s commercial and public building stock begin to
transform from timber to masonry as export commodity prices boomed during the First
World War; returned service personnel also added money into the economy.60 This
transformation of the urban landscape picked up pace in the mid-late 1920s despite
fluctuations in the economy.61 This overall period of growth for the town was due to
Stratford’s steadily increasing population, its rail junction making it a hub of the regional
economy, technological advances that increased farm productivity, and a program of civic
improvements that boosted local confidence.62
58
Walter, 2005, p. 36
59
For example ‘Broadway, Stratford’, Ref: 1/1-012236-G, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New
Zealand, /records/23097358. Three rare remaining non-residential buildings from this period (pre-1910) are: the Empire
Hotel (built c.1886 or 1893, with later modifications), southeast corner of Broadway and Fenton Street,
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4534-empire-hotel-stratford; Marire
Hospital (1907, with 1911 additions by John D. Healy, ‘Page 6 advertisements Column 5’, Stratford Evening Post, 3 July
1911, https://www.stratford.govt.nz/images/Heritage_Inventory/Stratford%20-%20Marire%20Hospital.pdf) 24 Juliet
Street; and the Stratford Club (1909-10, architect John D. Healy), 60 Juliet Street (‘Page 1 Advertisements Column 3’,
Hawera & Normanby Star, 23 October 1909)
60
Geoff Mew and Adrian Humphris, Raupo to Deco: Wellington Styles and Architects 1840-1940, Steele Roberts Aotearoa,
Wellington, 2014, p. 244
61
Walter, 2005, p. 42
62
In 1916 the population was 2713; in 1921 it had increased by nearly 400 people to 3085 (mostly as a result of a baby boom
following the First World War); and the 1926 census recorded further growth to 3332 people. Stratford District
Centennial Committee p.61; Walter, 2005, p. 42; 'Overview', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1920s/overview,
(Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 1-May-2020, accessed 22 July 2020
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 16Otago Chambers at 1 Fenton Street, built
1914 and designed by John D. Healy in an
Edwardian Italianate style, is one of
Stratford’s older surviving brick commercial
buildings, but it could be said that the
masonry Municipal Buildings (built 1916,
architect John D. Healy) and King’s Theatre
Otago Chambers. Joanna Barnes-Wylie, Heritage New (built 1918-1919, designed by Auckland
Zealand, 22 June 2020
firm Grierson & Aimer) were more
influential in setting the future tone and scale of the town’s commercial streetscape due to
their commanding designs and prominent locations on Broadway.63 The three-storeyed King’s
Theatre remains one of Broadway’s largest buildings, within an otherwise two-storeyed
streetscape.
Municipal Buildings. Joanna Barnes-Wylie, Heritage New Kings Theatre. Robert McLean, Heritage New
Zealand, 22 June 2020 Zealand, 23 May 2008
The mid-1920s was a particularly good time for the local construction industry, with the new
Public Trust Office (1924, designed by T.H. Bates), Petries Buildings (1924, architect John D.
Healy), Manoy’s Buildings (1925, V.S Griffiths), Radich Building (1925, John D. Healy),
Broadway Buildings (1926, John D. Healy), and Carman’s Building (1926, architect unknown)
63
Otago Chambers image, Joanna Barnes-Wylie, Heritage New Zealand, 22 June 2020. Municipal Buildings, List No. 924:
https://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/924; Stratford Heritage Inventory
https://www.stratford.govt.nz/images/Heritage_Inventory/Stratford%20-
%20Municipal%20Building%20%20Hall%20of%20Remembrance.pdf;
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4482-municipal-buildings-1916; image
Municipal Buildings, Robert McLean, Heritage New Zealand, 23 May 2008. Kings Theatre:
https://www.stratford.govt.nz/images/Heritage_Inventory/Stratford%20-%20Kings%20Theatre.pdf;
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/1161-kings-theatre-stratford,
including image taken by Mike Gooch, 2012.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 17all completed.64 By the end of the 1930s many other business owners had invested in brand-
new commercial premises, including the Central Buildings (1931) and Union Bank Chambers
(1936, Duffill & Gibson).65 A notably intact stretch of buildings between 222-310 Broadway,
many mentioned above, dates from this interwar period.66
The eastern side of Broadway, from top left: Petries Building, north Broadway; mid-Broadway (with 1980s tudor-
styled clock tower); south Broadway. Robert McLean, Heritage New Zealand, 23 May 2008
64
Public Trust Office,170 Broadway: https://www.stratford.govt.nz/images/Heritage_Inventory/Stratford%20-
%20Public%20Trust%20Building.pdf;
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/t_h_bates_buildings/topics/show/705-public-trust-offices-stratford-
1924; Petries Buildings, Corner 194 Broadway and Regan Street:
https://www.stratford.govt.nz/images/Heritage_Inventory/Stratford%20-%20Petries%20Building.pdf, Stratford Evening
Post, 19 April 1923; http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4518-petries-
building-1924; Manoys Buildings, 234 Broadway:
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4484-manoys-builidng-1925; Radich
Building, 280 Broadway: http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4530-radich-
building-1925, Stratford Evening Post, 20 June 1925; Broadway Buildings, 244-248 Broadway:
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/stratford_buildings/topics/show/4485-broadway-buildings-1926;
Stratford Evening Post, 26 June 1926; Carman’s Building, 298 Broadway: ‘Old Landmark Goes’, Stratford Evening Post, 20
Aug 1926; Stratford Evening Post 16 Nov 1926
65
Central Buildings, 222-228 Broadway: ‘Girls were eating themselves’, Stratford Evening Post, 7 Nov 1931; Union Bank
Chambers, 310 Broadway: ‘New Building’, Stratford Evening Post, 26 May 1936.
66
This stretch of pre-World War Two buildings along the eastern side of Broadway between 222-310 is only punctuated by
the 1980s glockenspiel clock tower at 276 Broadway, and 264 Broadway (date unknown). The building at 201-205
Broadway also dates from the 1920s-1930s.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 18Today, the buildings mentioned above form the bulk of Stratford’s remaining commercial and
civic heritage, and their interwar classically-influenced facades set the character of the town’s
main commercial street firmly in the 1920s-1930s, particularly along the eastern side of the
street. Egmont Chambers’ 1920s construction date places it squarely amongst this second
generation of Stratford’s commercial and civic building stock. Architect John D. Healy also
forms a link, being the designer of many of these buildings. His design for the 1916 Municipal
Buildings foreshadows some of the decorative features he employed for Egmont Chambers’
façade four years later, such as the inset rough-cast panels and sharp-edged keystones above
each window.
The western side of Broadway has suffered a greater loss of its nineteenth and early
twentieth century buildings, and the surrounding streets only contain a few older buildings
dotted here and there, with most post-dating the Second World War. In 2019 the demolition
of a block of five buildings in the centre of the western side of Broadway removed another
large chunk of the town centre’s interwar heritage buildings, including two John D. Healy
buildings (Hunter & Lyon’s Building, 1914, and Hannah’s Building, 1928), along with their
neighbour the Carryer’s Building (1924, designed by T.H. Bates).67
Left: The west side of Broadway, viewed from the south in 2008, before the building in the right-hand image
(Hunter & Lyon’s, Hannah’s and Carryer’s buildings, 247-257 Broadway), were demolished in 2019. Robert
McLean, Heritage New Zealand, 23 May 2008
Construction Professionals
Architect: John D. Healy (original construction); Terry Boon & Company (1979 modifications,
largely reversed in 2017-2018); Jono Murdoch (Boon Architects) (2017-2018 renovations)
67
247-259 Broadway were demolished. ‘Demolition work under way in Stratford centre, ahead of redevelopment plans’,
Taranaki Daily News, 17 May 2019; ‘Demolition starting on final building in multi-million dollar Stratford redevelopment’,
Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 2019
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 19Builder: W. Simmons (original construction)
Construction Materials
Concrete, steel, glass, brick, timber
Key Physical Dates
1920 Original construction
1979 Modification: New reception area in front part of ground floor - some walls
removed; structural beam, timber partition walls and suspended ceilings
installed
Unknown Modification: original double-hung sash windows replaced with aluminium
triple-light awning windows
2017-2018 Structural upgrade: earthquake strengthening
Modification: all windows replaced with double-glazed aluminium windows;
new entrance doors; suspended ceilings removed; kitchen installed on ground
floor; second floor remodelled into residential apartment (walls removed,
kitchen installed, bathroom facilities remodelled, window opening enlarged;
Maintenance/repairs: exterior façade cleaned and repainted
Uses
Accommodation: House; Civic Facilities: Art Gallery; Civic Facilities: Studio – art;
Manufacturing: Distillery; Trade: Café
Trade: Office building/Offices (Former); Finance: Building Society (Former)
2.3. Chattels
There are no chattels included in this List entry.
2.4. Sources
Sources Available and Accessed
Sufficient resources were available and accessed for this assessment. The newspapers
digitised on Papers Past (URL https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/), particularly the Stratford
Evening Post, provide a wealth of detail about the development and everyday life of
Stratford. They are a particularly useful source to piece together detail about the arc of John
D. Healy’s architectural career, and the construction and use of Egmont Chambers over time.
This information was supplemented by historical overviews, particularly David Walter’s
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 20excellent 2005 book Stratford: Shakespearean town under the mountain, a history, and the
work of the researchers at Puke Ariki’s Taranaki Research Centre documenting Taranaki’s
heritage buildings, made available on Kete New Plymouth (URL
http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/).
Further Reading
Lyn Barnes, ‘Inside a home-turned-gallery café: A nomadic couple return to Stratford and
launch the Fenton Street Arts Collective’, thisNZlife, URL: https://thisnzlife.co.nz/inside-a-
home-turned-gallery-cafe-a-nomadic-couple-return-to-stratford-and-launch-the-fenton-
street-arts-collective/
Campbell McAllister, Old Taranaki and its mountain, Millwood Press, Wellington, 1976
‘Death of Mr J.D. Healy’, Stratford Evening Post, 24 November 1924
David Walter, Stratford: Shakespearean town under the mountain, a history, Dunmore
Publishing, Wellington, 2005
Gail and Ron Lambert, An Illustrated History of Taranaki, Dunmore Press, Palmerston North,
1983
3. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT68
3.1. Section 66 (1) Assessment
This place has been assessed for all criteria, and found to possess architectural and historical
significance or value. It is considered that this place qualifies as part of New Zealand’s historic
and cultural heritage.
Architectural Significance or Value
The architecture of Egmont Chambers, largely unchanged since its construction in 1920,
clearly represents the Stripped Classical style popular in New Zealand in the interwar years,
where classical influences were reduced into restrained façade ornamentation rather than
playing a significant structural role. This architectural style is particularly characteristic of
Stratford’s central business district, due to its favour by prolific local architect John D. Healy,
who designed many of the town’s commercial and public buildings during the first three
decades of the twentieth century, including Egmont Chambers. The successful treatment of
68
For the relevant sections of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 see Appendix 4: Significance
Assessment Information.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – List Entry Report for a Historic Place, List No. 9737 21You can also read
