Elliott House
Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
National Library reference: Elliot, James Sands. S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives. Ref: 1/1-013864-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23059397
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Constructed
1913 - 1913
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Architect(s)
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Builder(s)
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Elliot House is historically significant for its long association with Sir James Elliott, a distinguished medical practitioner in Wellington, who lived and ran his surgery in the building. Elliott’s son, Sir Randall Elliott, who grew up in the house, was a distinguished medical practitioner in his own right.
Elliott House’s skilfully designed neo-Georgian style gives the building significant prominence in the otherwise bland Kent Terrace streetscape.
The building, a very rare survivor from Kent Terrace’s past, gives an indication of the more domestic character of this part of the city last century.
The building marks the beginning of a long succession of Georgian-style houses designed by William Gray Young, a prominent, skilled and versatile Wellington architect.
The building makes a strong positive contribution to the sense of place of Kent Terrace.
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Downloadable(s)
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History
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The first building to occupy this site was a timber dwelling, erected for Charles Daniell de Castro in 1870. James Sands Elliott (1880-1959), who from 1903-1910 lived in the adjoining house, bought eventually bought the property in 1906.
Elliott, a medical doctor, commissioned architect William Gray Young to design a house that could combine a family home and medical surgery. Gray Young’s design was one of the first applications of the neo-Georgian style in Wellington. This is a Georgian Revival house only in the broadest sense. Bill Toomath prefers to call it ‘William and Mary’, describing it as robust and jolly rather than refined. The house is a complete contrast to Victorian or Edwardian over ornamentation, calm, cool, undemonstrative. The sharp rectangular form, together with the simple but carefully-selected details, was received with surprise and dislike when the building was erected by Henry Jones and John Cameron in 1913.
Irish-born Elliott studied medicine at Otago and Edinburgh universities. He served in a medical capacity in both the South African War, and later in World War I and was decorated in both. Elliott was not only one of New Zealand’s most celebrated medical doctors, but also a writer, medical administrator and editor. He was prominent in the fight against cancer and was heavily involved in most of New Zealand’s major medical boards and commissions. Knighted in 1936, Elliott was created a Baliff Grand Cross of the Order of St John in 1955, an honour restricted to 10 people outside the Royal Family. Elliott resided at Elliott House for 46 years, until his death in 1959.
After his death his sons sold the house to Rover International. In 1971 it was sold to the Presbyterian Church Property Trustees who rented the house to Belton’s Real Estate. In 1988, under the ownership of PrimAcq Holdings, substantial changes were made to the building, including strengthening and the construction of insertion and enlargement of dormer windows. These alterations were designed by Cockburn Architects and Planners.
Today, in keeping with the building’s association with the medical profession, it is fittingly occupied by the Australasian College of Anaesthetists.
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Modifications
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1913
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Original construction. (00053:174:9609)
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1962
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Building alterations. (00058:254:C11314)
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1988
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PrimAq Holdings undertook extensive modifications, which included new foundations, steel frames fixed to external walls. The valley between the double pitched roof was converted into a third storey and covered with a flat roof. Dormer windows protrude from the original roof line and interior was completely refurbished.
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1990
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Business additions and alterations. (00059:380:E19956)
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1991
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Flagpole. (00059:453:E22214)
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Occupation History
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1913
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Sir James Elliott and his family
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1991
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Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
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Architectural Information
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Building Classification(s)
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Not assessed
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Architecture
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Elliot House is a two storey (and attic) neo-Georgian house designed as a residence-surgery by William Gray Young. A waiting room, office and surgery were situated on the front ground floor, with living quarters behind and above.
The symmetrical street facade has been divided into five bays, with square-headed 12-light sash windows on the upper floor, and segmentally-arched windows on the ground floor. The central doorway is marked by a semi-circular pediment above it. The corners have stylized quoins formed by recessing two bricks every fifth course. The roof has a double-pitched flared form, with wide eaves decorated with pronounced timber dentils. The original pitched roof dormer on the centre line of the building was replaced in 1988 with a larger, flat-roofed dormer, maintaining the symmetry but not the delicacy of the original.
In 1988 the interior was completely refurbished and new foundations laid, and steel frames were fixed to internal walls. The interior now has little authenticity, with only isolated elements being retained from the original.
Construction is load-bearing cavity brickwork (stretcher bond). A reinforced-concrete tie-beam encircles the building at first floor level and at eaves level. The roof was originally clad in clay tiles, but these have been replaced with concrete tiles.
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Materials
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Timber, brick masonry, cement tile roof.
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Setting
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Elliott House is located on Kent Terrace, a road that links inner city Wellington to the Basin Reserve, Newtown and the southern suburbs of Wellington. The House is a survivor of an assortment of early houses, churches and commercial business that once lined the both Kent and Cambridge Terraces. Today the tone of the street has changed considerably and Elliott House looks out of place in a street that is now distinguished by its car-yards, low-lying commercial buildings and traffic.
The House is surrounded by commercial ventures. To the eastern side of Elliott House is a car dealership and to the western side is a fast food outlet and drive-through. Directly across the road is a multi-level office block. To the rear of the building is a built-up commercial area and Home Street, a short road that runs parallel to Kent Terrace.
Across both Cambridge Terrace and Kent Terrace is the Cambridge Terrace Congregational Church, a with a red brick construction that is sympathetic to Elliott House.
The closest buildings and structures of significant historical note are the Queen Victoria Monument (Category II), the Cambridge Establishment (formerly the Cambridge Hotel) (Category II) and the Embassy Theatre (Category I).
The building makes a significant contribution to the streetscape of Kent Terrace, which would have little character without it.
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Building Classification(s)
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Cultural Value
Elliot House is historically significant for its long association with Sir James Elliott, a distinguished medical practitioner in Wellington, who lived and ran his surgery in the building. Elliott’s son, Sir Randall Elliott, who grew up in the house, was a distinguished medical practitioner in his own right.
Elliott House’s skilfully designed neo-Georgian style gives the building significant prominence in the otherwise bland Kent Terrace streetscape.
The building, a very rare survivor from Kent Terrace’s past, gives an indication of the more domestic character of this part of the city last century.
The building marks the beginning of a long succession of Georgian-style houses designed by William Gray Young, a prominent, skilled and versatile Wellington architect.
The building makes a strong positive contribution to the sense of place of Kent Terrace.
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Aesthetic Value
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Architectural
Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?
Elliot House is a skilfully designed, neo-Georgian house with a well-ordered façade. The contrast in colour and texture of the brickwork and the white painted joinery, the flared roof and the decorative details all contribute to the building’s strong street-presence along an otherwise bland Kent Terrace.
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Group
Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?
William Grey Young designed many neo-Georgian brick buildings (mostly houses) in Wellington. This house, one of the earliest he designed in this idiom, is part of an identifiable collection by an important architect.
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Townscape
Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?
Elliot House makes considerable contribution to the streetscape of Kent and Cambridge Terraces.
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Historic Value
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Association
Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?
This house was designed by noted architect William Gray Young and marks the beginning of a long succession of Georgian-style houses designed by this important local architect.
The historic value of Elliott House derives from its origin and long association with Sir James Elliott, a distinguished medical practitioner in Wellington, who lived and ran his surgery in the building. Elliott’s name is well known and respected in the city to this day, partly because of his son, Sir Randell Elliot, who grew up in the house and had a distinguished medical career in his own right. The house points to what was, for the first half of the 20th century, a more domestic character in this part of the city. -
Asociation
Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?
Elliott House has a historic association with medical practice in Wellington.
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Scientific Value
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Archaeological
Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?
There was pre-1900 human activity on this site. Although some of the sites have been altered by rebuilding or landscaping or subdivisional change, there is archaeological value in the immediate surrounds.
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Level of Cultural Heritage Significance
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Authentic
Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?
The exterior maintains a high level of original fabric.
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Representative
Is the item a good example of the class it represents?
The building is a representative example of an early 20th century inner-city medical professional’s residence and surgery.
The building is also an early / good representative example of a neo-Georgian house by prominent Wellington architect, William Gray Young.
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Local / Regional / National / International Importance
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Not assessed
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Aesthetic Value
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Site Detail
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District Plan Number
16/ 173
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Legal Description
All DP 5609 & Pt Sec 301 Town of Wellington
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Heritage New Zealand Listed
1/Historic Place 1377
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Archaeological Site
Central City NZAA R27/270
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Current Uses
unknown
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Former Uses
unknown
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Has building been funded
No
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Funding Amount
Not applicable
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Earthquake Prone Status
124 Notice
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Additional Information
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Sources
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- Historic Places Trust, “Elliott House”, Historic Places Trust Register. Accessed: July 20, 2012.
- Wellington City Council, Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001.
- Wright-St Clair, R. “Elliott, James Sands – Biography”, in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated September 1, 2010. Accessed July 15, 2010,
- 43 Kent Terrace additions to dwelling, 1913, 00053:174:9609, Wellington City Archives.
- 43 Kent Terrace, building alterations, 1962, 00058:254:C11314, Wellington City Archives.
- 43 Kent Terrace, office partitions, 1990, 00059:380:E19956, Wellington City Archives.
- 43 Kent Terrace, flagpole, 1991, 00059:453:E22214, Wellington City Archives.
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Technical Documentation
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Not available
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Footnotes
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Not available
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Sources
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Last updated: 4/8/2018 10:54:15 PM