Shop and Dwelling

• 1896 - 1896
• Building constructed (00053:32:1936)
• 1925 - 1925
• Alterations - window alterations and removal of partitions to ground floor shop (00055:50:A4693)
• 1940 - 1940
• Shop alterations – new partitions in the shop on the left and a new entry door to the shop on right (00056:255:B21023)
• 1950 - 1950
• Verandah (00056:389:B29959)
• 1960 - 1960
• Shop alterations - remove a partition at the rear of the shop in the kitchen area (00058:163:C7608)
• 1966 - 1966
• Building alterations - shop front entrance (00058:460:C19766)
• 2000 - 2000
• Building strengthened Building strengthened (SR 66529)
• c.2001 - 2001
• WCC grant for: Earthquake strengthening, replacing window joinery with hardwood jarra to be in keeping with the character of the building, repair of the existing stair-case and repair to the exterior front elevation.
• 2002 - 2002
• Workshop extension (00078:1229:95986)
• 2004 - 2004
• Extension of office above existing portal frame retail space. Original single storey brick lean-to replaced, re-strengthening and first floor extension to existing building. (00078:1619:118498)

• unknown
• The building has housed a variety of retailers since its construction. Early tenants include a boot mart, a hatter, and a watchmaker.
• 1910 - 1923
• Printer and stationer Frederick Vaughan occupied the building from 1910 until 1923.
• 1924
• In 1924 the Pippos Brothers In the Pippos Brothers (Greek Cypriots were the first of a series of fishmongers.
• 1945
• After 1945 the building was used for a range of purposes, including a beauty salon, clothing retailers, and cafes.
• 1995
• Midnight Espresso café (Tim Rose and Geoffrey Marsland opened a café in the building for a brief period while other premises of theirs were earthquake strengthened.)
• 2005
• First floor - design firm office
• 2005
• ‘Lazule’ a jewellery shop on the ground floor ‘Lazule’ a jewellery shop on the ground floor (may be earlier than , still there in 2012)

Not assessed

The building is a modestly scaled two-storey brick construction housing a shop at the ground floor and a small flat/office at the first floor (need to confirm current use), with a complex of outbuildings at the rear of the property. The street façade and parapet is decorated with fairly elaborate plaster-work mouldings and elegant timber exterior joinery and is painted in a distinctive pale lapis-lazuli colour. The original bull-nose verandah and cast-iron posts are long lost, replaced with a modern flat stayed canopy, as is the original shop-front and street entrance, but the building retains its original design function (mixed residential and commercial use) and has continued in that use since it was built.

Below the verandah the shop-front is modern, and although carefully done in (clear-finished) timber, bears no particular relation to that shown on the original drawings (which followed a line neatly inclined from the pavement to the door) beyond the location of doors and windows. Above the verandah, the carefully proportioned neo-classical façade appears entirely original.

The upper facade is divided into three bays by two pairs of square Doric pilasters. The central bay contains a pair of round-headed double-hung windows in a panelled surround. The pilasters support a blind triangular Doric pediment above the windows, the soffit of which extends horizontally to either side of the façade to produce a cornice line. The pediment and cornice are embellished with dentil mouldings; elaborate Corinthian keystones cum console brackets join to the cornice above the windows. Above the pediment, the pilasters extend to a plain horizontal parapet line that is surmounted by a narrow upper pediment with a curved cap that conceals the apex of the gable end of the roof beyond. The brickwork is generally visible on the façade, save for the moulded details of the pediment and the panelling around the windows. The original plaster and brick is likely to have been unpainted, or possibly, lime-washed.

There is an interesting visible story of changes to the site told in the detail of the party wall and the variety of outbuildings and brickwork walls at the back of the site, now partly lost with the recent (2006) construction of an addition to the back of the building. The party wall retains traces of the building that preceded the adjoining car-park, with a small amount of plaster moulding remaining on the street end of the wall, traces of the framing and floor lines of the adjoining building and evidence of a lean-to shown with a neatly plastered low parapet line.

The back face of the main building is now disfigured with an unfortunate recent addition in the form of a shallow-pitched lean-to to the main roof with the consequential loss of much of the original back elevation. The original elevation, which was visible until early 2006, was in carefully-worked brick and featured two pairs of double-hung windows with softly rounded arched heads and the original “lean-to”, a single storey brick addition to the main bulk of the building covered with a corrugated iron hipped roof and trimmed with double-hung timber windows set in arched brick openings matching the main building. This was an extremely rare form of “lean-to” in Wellington and is now lost.

Spaced away from the “lean-to” and running along the back boundary of the site there is a modern outbuilding, mainly clad in corrugated steel and with a mono-slope roof. The boundary wall of this building is substantially built incorporating the remains of an old brick wall and chimney (which may be a remnant of a small outbuilding, such as a laundry, privy or a stable).

There is little remaining original fabric within the ground floor of the building. The flat has been provided with separate access from the street (it was originally accessed from within the shop), perhaps in the 1920s in association with alterations to the shop-front. The interior of the first floor was not inspected, and although it appears from an exterior viewing that much of the joinery and trims survives, the modern position of the staircase and the recent addition at the rear of the building has almost certainly resulted in significant internal alterations and loss of heritage fabric.

Brick, timber secondary structure, corrugated iron roof.

This Victorian shop/house was one of many in Cuba Street. Over the years, this part of the street has gradually accrued larger commercial buildings, and there are now relatively few of this type left.

It is sited close to the Vivian Street corner next to the later and taller Berry’s building on the left side, and flanked by a car-park, once a large two-storied pub – the former White Swan Hotel, on the right. The car-park permits views of the side and rear of the building, including the various outbuildings, and allows views through to the rear of Toomath’s building on Ghuznee Street, a rare and interesting streetscape that complements this building. The south side of the building is currently used for a very large billboard, which draws attention to the building and gives it a prominence it might not otherwise have.

The nearby setting includes an extensive collection of older buildings in Cuba Street, Ghuznee Street, Swan Lane and Garrett Street, many of which are included in the Cuba Street Heritage Area. This building makes an important contribution to both its immediate and wider settings and its value is enhanced by those settings.

• 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?

  The building has high aesthetic value for its carefully executed neo-Classical composition and detail.

• 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?

  This building has very high group value within the Cuba Street precinct, particularly as one of the few remaining original buildings on its original site on the upper part of the street.

• 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?

  It has high townscape value for its distinctive form and scale in its location. The immediate setting, including Berry’s Building, is enhanced by and makes a strong contribution to the heritage values of this building.

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

  This building is associated with the development of Cuba Street and the commercialisation of Te Aro during the Victorian period.
  

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  This elegant little building has historic value for its association with the well-known brewer and entrepreneur TG Macarthy.

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  The building was constructed before 1900; hence this site has potential archaeological value.

• Technological

  Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  While the building is built with well-known materials and techniques for the time, it is of technical value as buildings of this era are becoming increasingly rare.

• Identity/Sense Of Place/Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  This building is one of several Victorian commercial buildings on Cuba Street which contribute to the sense of place and continuity of the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

• 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 of the building is largely authentic, despite a cumbersome recent addition.

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  This is one of the few small pre-1900 brick and masonry Victorian shophouses in this part of Cuba Street to survive on its original site.

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  As a small building in continuous commercial use it is a good representative example of the early commercialisation of Te Aro.

• Importance

  Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

  This building is of local importance, as it contributes to the Cuba Street Heritage Area.

Not assessed

• Brodie, Antonia (ed). “Schwartz, George Guido, b. 1853”. Directory of British Architects, 1834-1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z). British Architectural Library: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001.
• Cyclopedia Co. Ltd, “Mr. Thomas George Macarthy”, in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District (Wellington: The Cyclopedia Company Limited, 1897), accessed September 5, 2012,
• Cyclopedia Co. Ltd, “Other Architects, Civil Engineers, Etc.” in The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District (Wellington: The Cyclopedia Company Limited, 1897), accessed September 26, 2012,
• Hawke, GR. “Macarthy, Thomas George – Biography”, in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated September 1, 2010,
• “History of the Thomas George Macarthy Trust” Public Trust website, accessed September 22, 2012,
• Kelly, Michael, and Russell Murray. 2 Footscray Ave. Unpublished report for Wellington City Council, April 17, 2007
• Main, William. Wellington Through a Victorian Lens (Wellington: Millwood Press, 1972)
• Murray, Russell, and Kerryn Pollock, 151 Cuba Street, VIII. Wellington City Council: Unpublished report, prepared for Plan Change 53, 2005.
• Archives: “149 Cuba Street, shop and dwelling,” December 3, 1896, Building Permit 00053:32:1936, Wellington City Archives.
• Archives: Stones Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Taranaki Directory, 1897-1905, 1910-1923, 1924-1945.
• Archives: Wises Post Office Directory, 1945-1985.
• Archives: “Heritage building - 149 Cuba Street”, 1041-06-CUB149, Wellington City Council Records.
• Newspapers: West Coast Times , Issue 2492, 26 March 1877, Page 3
• Newspapers: Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3079, 28 June 1878, Page 2
• Newspapers: Colonist, Volume XX, Issue 2417, 11 July 1878, Page 3
• Newspapers: “Concert”, Colonist, Volume XXVI, Issue 3529, 2 August 1882, Page 3
• Newspapers: Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 28, 19 June 1886, Page 2
• Newspapers: “The Equitable Building Society's Permanent Offices”. Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 192, 31 December 1886, Page 3
• Newspapers: “Wellington Industrial Exhibition”, Evening Post, Volume LI, Issue 109, 8 May 1896, Page 2
• Newspapers: “Personal Matters”, Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 123, 25 May 1926, Page 9
• Newspapers: “Obituary”, Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 108, 9 May 1932, Page 9

• Inventory Report
• 1896 drawings

Not available