New Zealand’s first housing boom – and the icon it gave birth to

Instantly recognisable and a product of our country’s first housing boom, the New Zealand villa is a house that many Kiwis aspire to own and live in.

With an elegance of style fostered by high ceilings, decorative moldings and show-stopper big bay windows, their similarity of layout paired with myriad flourishes of individuality are a reflection of the time in history from which they sprang.

Hamish Mackenzie knows the subject as much as anyone, having restored and added to his own rambling villa – complete with turret – over the last 20 years. He moved from a career in commercial project management back to his first love, woodworking, which led naturally to starting his own business, Villafixation. It was, he says, a hobby that turned into a passion.

Mackenzie says the origins of the New Zealand villa are very much tied to the country’s own development in the late 19th Century.

During the late Victorian/Edwardian era, the nation as a whole was growing in confidence as natural industries thrived and the population grew on the back of immigration. Greater wealth and prosperity led to growth in cities and the emergence of a middle class.

“The era also marked the beginning of our first real decent public transport system - the electric trams – connecting the city cores to the suburbs spreading outwards,” Mackenzie says.

The influx of new affordable steam-powered woodworking equipment from England and the United States allowed New Zealand to build on a scale hitherto unknown in the country.

“We had an abundance of native timber and were now able to cheaply mass produce the many components of houses, such as decorative timbers, windows and doors,” Mackenzie says.

“All of this resulted in the mass production of houses whose style was in line with the values of that Victorian/ Edwardian time.”

WHAT MAKES THE KIWI VILLA SO SPECIAL?

The Kiwi villa has much in common with the villas the sprang up in Adelaide and Melbourne during the same period, as well as the famous “painted ladies” of San Francisco, but they are none-the-less distinctive and relatively abundant throughout this comparatively small nation. So what makes the Kiwi villa so special?

“Basically it’s their elegance and style,” Mackenzie says. “And the fact that many of them are in what are now considered the CBD is a plus – you don’t have to commute for two hours to get to them.

“It’s cool to own a villa, you get a certain fashionable uniformity of style and layout that make so many streets such a pretty piece of our own urban culture but if you own a villa you can dress it up according to your own tastes, within reason of course!”

And he says it was lucky that many New Zealand councils came to understand their value before too many were lost.

“The councils came to realise that they were an important part of our heritage and are sort of unique to New Zealand. So many of our older, inner suburb streets still retain the villa as its dominant dwelling and their collective elegance and style gives these areas their special ambiance.

“Being made of native timber has meant they have been relatively resistant to rot given their age. The sarking in the walls, often made of kauri, combined with the outer weatherboard means they are quite solid. The timber construction of that time meant the cavities of these exterior walls were 'drafty' and hence if water did penetrate into the internal wall space it would often dry out.

“Villas have also shown themselves to be readily adaptable to modern living with so much potential for new owners to continue molding them to their own tastes.”

SO WHAT ARE THE PITFALLS?

Insulation. They have none.

“Many will have had this sorted over the years but if you are starting with an original do-up it will need insulation and quite probably re-piling and rewiring and newer plumbing as well,” Mackenzie says.

Aspect can be another.

Victorian values were all about one’s public image, the façade, so villas became a literal embodiment of “best foot forward”.

“Best dressed in front meant most effort was spent on public appearance. Inner city villas were almost all street facing, placed right at the front of sections with no consideration of orientation to the sun,” Mackenzie says.

So the amount of light coming through those big expensive bay windows was dependent on the angle of your street.

Proximity. That fact that villas were predominantly built on new subdivision lots created by developers for the middle and working class often meant narrow sections, close together.

“Depending on your neighbours this could lead to issues, not to mention even more light being cut out by having houses close by on either side,” Mackenzie says.

These narrow sections built on before the age of the automobile also made the later provision of the modern garage very challenging.

Finally, sash windows are another potential pitfall. These can open from the bottom or top providing both protection and airflow. Their large size lets in generous amounts of light contributing to the feeling of space and grandeur, but they do need looking after, says Mackenzie.

“Sash windows are fantastic when they are working properly but they do have their problems if not adequately maintained,” he says.

“Over time and many coats of paint the window sashes no longer function as intended. Windows stick, warp and sash cords break."

ARE THERE MODERN SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS?

One of the challenges for villa owners is keeping the balance, finding ways of updating these old houses with newer technologies that do not detract from their original charm.

Mackenzie says sometimes it is simply more cost effective and fit-for-purpose if you use a modern version.

“There are still companies that run the old profiles, catering for villa renovations combining traditional elements with modern materials.

“For example you can get modern sash windows that have weather seals and modern easy-to-use mechanisms for moving them up and down. These ones won’t rattle in high winds like the originals”

“Insulation is not hard if you know how to do it. It can be done from the outside when renewing weatherboard exteriors, or the easier and cheaper method of cutting holes in the walls through which you can blow in a number of insulation products.”

Though for purists the original joinery elements can still be found if you are prepared to look for them, he says.

“There are plenty of demolition and second-hand traders that will sell you original fixtures that you can restore yourself or get in someone like me to make them just like new again.”

CAN RENOVATIONS GO TOO FAR?

The New Zealand villa has many attributes that lend themselves to the perfect harmony of historical elegance balanced with a modern lifestyle. Historical decorative flourishes can be balanced astonishingly well with super up-to-date modern kitchens, bathrooms, decks and pools.

But Mackenzie warns modernization comes with a caveat. In his view, the original character of the dwelling should always be kept front and centre in renovation planning.

“I am traditionalist, any renovations or upgrades viewed from the street should be done with the traditional flavour in mind. Because if it’s not it can detract from the collective cultural heritage value of your community,” he says.

“I’ve seen villas where all the ornamental decorative moldings have been taken out and it’s just flat, square, and faceless with aluminum windows and you think why did you even buy it?”

But, he says, most villa owners are pretty good and there is so much modernizing that can be done to bring the somewhat stuffy and closed in Victorian values into the modern more open living Kiwi culture.

“Some of our versions of modern living are completely incongruous to how a Victorian house was designed.

“I’ve been to many sites where they are having the big modernization at the back and with that I have no issues, in fact I think they are adding value to the house, making it more livable for the modern age.”

He says that back when villas were built, the money spent on fancy fronts often meant savings were made on the unseen the utility spaces at the rear making them “pretty average and inferior to the rest of the property”.

“Ninety-five percent that have undergone significant renovation now have kitchen and living areas at the back of the home, flowing into the often expansive outdoor areas,” he says.

If done well, NZ villas can pull off the enviable feat of maintaining their original charm and providing a thoroughly modern living space.

Narrow long sections with a the original villa located close to the street means there is a relatively large back yard that can be utilized.

A modern, open plan rear addition relocates the living focus of the home to the rear of the dwelling and connection to the revitalized back yard providing the indoor-out door flow we now like as New Zealanders."

So are villas still an attractive option for buyers given the effort required in their upkeep? Or as technology continues to bring convenience and ease-of-use into the forefront of modern lifestyles will these old relics begin to decline in popularity?

Mackenzie doesn’t think so. He believes there will always be those who understand the special character held within these living pieces of New Zealand history.

“Call me sentimental but old houses have a soul. You get a nuance that these have been places where other families have grown and flourished,” he says.

And with more than 85,000 villas dotted around the country there are still plenty of opportunities for buyers to make a little piece of NZ history their own, he says.

“There’s a whole industry that will provide villa additions and alterations using new building elements modelled on the original, old profiles.”

There are also relocation companies throughout the country that can deliver unwanted houses with good bones to empty sections ready for their second life.

“Luckily a number of our old villas, unloved by their new owners have been sold, relocated to the country and renovated into magnificent modern lifestyle dwellings,” Mackenzie says.

“Being rectangular with the hallways in the centre, they are easy to move. They just chop them in half, put them on a truck and join them together again at the other end.”

Whether you’re a fan or not it’s hard to deny the NZ villa has stood the test of time. Through the care and efforts of many an admiring owner these uniquely New Zealand houses have endured.

Today there are plenty of villas available for sale, some already done up beautifully with all the charm of their origins complimented by the most stylish of modern designs and utilities, others a blank slate, very affordable and ready for new owners to add their own unique stamp, toward the creation of their dream homes.

Keeping hold of their early roots, villas have also shown themselves to be highly adaptable - living reflections of our changing lifestyles. They have shifted from the closed in Victorian reserve of their time toward a decidedly Kiwi culture more open, relaxed and connected to its own environment.

Love 'em or hate 'em, our most iconic houses are still going strong. The New Zealand villa is here to stay.