Binswood, 229 Remuera Road, Remuera

This house on the side of Ohinerau Mt Hobson was originally built in 1927. It was designed by the noted American architect Roy Alstan Lippincott (1885-1969) who worked in New Zealand from 1921 to 1939.

Lippincott’s design for Binswood was held to be conventional i.e. less influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright than by Lippincott’s colleague Walter Burley Griffin. The house has a cruciform plan and is clad in cedar shingles. It includes spaces on different levels, connected with short flights of stairs. The house’s distinctive roof form – raked fascias carried partially around the gable ends are influenced by Griffin. [1]

It has been recorded as being built by Henry Smeeton and being gifted by him to the N Z Baptist Church as a theological college – but this was 231 Remuera Road. Henry (Herbert) Smeeton had held the lease to a large property on the slopes of Ohinerau Mt Hobson at 57, now 229, Remuera Road.  He and his wife decided to build a smaller dwelling on a portion of the site (229?) and to part-gift the house and gardens to the Baptist Church for use as a Theological College. Binswood, then 57 Remuera Road, was offered with an acre of land. It had potential to accommodate up to 15 students plus provide a flat for the Principal, lecture rooms and library, dining room and quarters for a housekeeper. Yet it was not obvious that even with the generosity of Smeeton the denomination could afford such a large purpose. In quick order, wealthy supporters of the College were canvassed and a package put together and presented to the Committee on 3 December 1926. The proposal was unanimously accepted. [3]

Unfortunately, Henry Smeeton died in October 1927 before the new house was completed. [4]

The NZ Baptist Theological College was situated at 231 Remuera Road on Mt Hobson until 1953 when a larger site at 63, now 85, Victoria Avenue, Remuera was purchased for £18,500. The College sat on over 5 acres of land with single student accommodation and married student flats as well as staff houses being added to the complex. The Victoria Avenue property has since been sold and subdivided in the 1990s. [5]

From 1933 until c1939, Harold Eric Barrowclough (1894-1972) lived at 229 Remuera Road. A lawyer by profession, he served in World War I in the 1st NZ Expeditionary Force, and won the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre. He was appointed commander of the 6th Brigade in 1939, and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, awarded a bar to the DSO, the Greek Military Cross and the United States Legion of Merit. In 1953 he was appointed Chief Justice and held that position until 1966. [6] In 1954 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, and was given a military funeral when he died. On several occasions, he was called upon to act as Administrator for New Zealand in the absence of a Governor-general.

Barrowclough sold the property in 1954; during World War II and up until the sale, the house appears to have been rented out. [7]

The purchaser was Dr. Patrick William Eisdell Moore. Born in 1918 to Alice and surgeon Dr Arthur Eisdell Moore, Patrick Eisdell Moore grew up in Auckland, attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated in medicine from Otago University in 1941. He served in World War II as medical officer with the 28th NZ (Maori) Battalion. [8] After the war, Sir Patrick travelled to England to obtain the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and gain practical experience in Ear Nose & Throat surgery. He then returned to New Zealand and practised in Auckland until his retirement, pioneering community health initiatives, treatment of the deaf, cochlear implants and the establishment of Auckland’s Hearing House and the Deafness Research Foundation. He was knighted in 1991 for his services to otolaryngology, the field of medicine associated with the ear nose and throat. Sir Patrick died in 2015 and was survived by his wife Beth, their four sons, Anthony (a pathologist practising in Australia), Tim (a radiologist practising in North America), Simon (a High Court Judge), Chris (a leading commercial property lawyer) and by 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.  [9]

Sir Patrick’s younger brother Lieutenant Richard (Dick) Eisdell Moore was aide-de-camp to Major-General H. E. Barrowclough, commander of the Third New Zealand Division, during World War 2. [10]

Part of the roof of 229 Remuera Road was reinstated after a fire in 1989, and the property was subdivided in 1995, with Sir Patrick and his wife living in a new house at 229A Remuera Road from c1996. Son Christopher Moore and his wife Heather bought the original house and alterations were made in 1996, to the design of Cook, Hitchcock & Sargisson Ltd. [11]

229 Remuera Road is listed on Auckland Council’s Historic Heritage Schedule (No. 01825) as a Residence LOT 1 DP 167345 Category B with heritage values of F and H:

F: physical attributes: the place is a notable or representative example of: (i) a type, design or style; (ii) a method of construction, craftsmanship or use of materials; or (iii) the work of a notable architect (Roy Lippincott), designer, engineer or builder

H: context: the place contributes to or is associated with a wider historical or cultural context, such as notable owners Smeeton, Barrowclough and Moore, and streetscape, townscape, landscape or setting such as Ohinerau Mt Hobson.

Images

1. 229 Remuera Road, 1977 Philip Doyle. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 435-20-31
2. 229 Remuera Road, 1977 Philip Doyle. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 435-20-32
3. 229 Remuera Road 229 Smeeton house cladding in RA Lippincott thesis by M Alec Bruce 1985 University of Auckland
4. Smeeton H M. Prominent citizen’s death N Z Herald 19271101
5. Smeeton’s Building Queen St NZ Graphic 19121009
6. Major General H E Barrowclough by Clifton Firth Nov 1942 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 34-B184
7. Sir Patrick Eisdell Moore. Eisdell Moore Centre, University of Auckland https://www.emcentre.ac.nz/the-eisdell-moore-centre/sir-patrick-eisdell-moore/