126 John Street, Ponsonby

Shrouded with Cabbage Trees (Ti Kouka in Maori) give it a real country look despite being in the middle of the city. Incidentally, cabbage trees are gaining popularity elsewhere - in UK landscaping as a hardy cold weather palm where they are known as the Torquey Palm, but the most impressive examples I've ever seen were in the lake district of southern Chile.
**Since initially posting this, the owner has been in touch with some interesting facts about the house and John Street;
"During the renovations we found pages of the AUCKLAND STAR newspaper used as wallpaper pasted to two of the internal walls dated April 7 1886, in remarkable condition. This was quite common on early NZ dwellings where building materials were hard to get.
When the section was first sold and the house was built, John Street did not run all the way between Richmond Rd and Jervois Rd. The top half between Richmond Rd and Summer St was called Oliphant Street, which is the address detail on the last paper title. By 1895, from the maps I have found - the rest of the sections were formed and the road joined up with John Street. It was renamed all John Street in the late 1930s."
Thanks, Richard very interesting stuff!
Auckland Star newspaper pages found in internal walls, April 7, 1886 |
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Auckland Star newspaper pages found in internal walls, April 7, 1886 |
Comments
nice work
I am looking for pictures of 28 Wharf Road, putting together the info I have on Greatgrandfather mystery, and he is recorded to have been at 28 Wharf Road in 1924. Though looking at this Auck Council street plan (from 1862) http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=4&RF=HIORecord&QI0=NZ, 28 Wharf Road didn't exist (yet)?
Would you know the area?
I am looking for pictures of 28 Wharf Road, putting together the info I have on Greatgrandfather mystery, and he is recorded to have been at 28 Wharf Road in 1924. Though looking at this Auck Council street plan (from 1862) http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=4&RF=HIORecord&QI0=NZ, 28 Wharf Road didn't exist (yet)?
and things have changed
Would you know that house?
renovation auckland
https://maps.google.co.nz/maps?client=safari&oe=UTF-8&q=28+Wharf+Road,+herne+bay+map&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x6d0d479d420cb06b:0xc5492d0196ed40ca,28+Wharf+Rd,+Ponsonby,+Auckland+1011&gl=nz&ei=2HfsUa-_H-6UiQfGyoCwCA&ved=0CCsQ8gEwAA
Thank you.
Annie
Sorry I'm not much help to you – I'm unable to find any decent maps from back in the early days of Oliphant Street. Great name isn't it! The owner of this house might be more helpful – drop me your email and I can forward to them.
I have recently bought 126 John Street from Richard. what a treasure it is (and how privileged am I?) It has such a lovely feel about it.
I simply had no idea what I was buying into - I walked in, fell in love, and signed the offer all within 5 hours. My daughter then found your web page and, well here we are. Your last post coincides with the very week we moved in...
Best, Bronwyn