The Houses of Massey

Houses of Massey

In October 1866 Palmerston came into official existence (the ‘North’ added in 1871), and sections went up for sale. The town, administered from Wellington, was laid out in a grid pattern with four main streets emanating from The Square, including Fitzherbert Street leading down to the river.  

Very soon land across the river, in the area called Fitzherbert, was also opened up for settlement, although not within the town boundaries when Palmerston North became an independent Borough with its own administration in 1877. The bridge, built in 1877 obviously made development of this area a more attractive proposition. A large tract of this land (743 acres) was bought by Sir James Prendergast in 1871. Other land that was taken up was largely in the form of smaller farms. 

It is this land that held the ‘Old Houses of Massey’ as Dorothea Joblin titled them in her book of 1971, the houses that were eventually absorbed into Massey Agricultural College.  

Batchelar Estate - 'Willowbank'

One of the first to develop the area was John Octavious Batchelar, who bought the land along the river flats directly along from the new town bridge. J.O. was the proprietor of the Royal Hotel, living there with his wife and 6 children of the time, but he took up the land to turn farmer. The family moved out to ‘Willowbank’ to live in the newly constructed 2-storey stable for two years before the house was built by J.O., a builder by trade, in 1880.

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The house was a substantial, but not palatial, 2 storied home, and there J.O. and his wife raised their 11 children. No gentleman farmer, J.O. and his children farmed the land themselves. He was also a Borough Councillor 1880-1882. In 1908 J.O. and wife Elizabeth retired to town, leaving their son Arthur and daughter Liz and her family at the farm. However, they soon returned, and employing the architect L G West, they renovated the house. The additions added wings, bay windows, balconies and a billiard room to the house, and a tennis court and croquet lawn the grounds.

J.O. died in 1925 and his wife the following year. In 1926, during the lengthy discussions of where a new agricultural college for New Zealand would be sited, the Batchelar estate came up for sale. It held good lands and was an established farm.The fact that the Abraham estate also came up for sale at the same time may have clinched the deal for the Palmerston North site.

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(Photographs: 1 & 2. The original ‘Willowbank’ c1885 3. Batchelar family c1895. 4. Jos Batchelar and son on the farm c1900. 5. Willowbank c1908)

Monro Estate - 'Craiglockhart' The next ‘Massey house’ to be built was the home of Charles Monro. He was a gentleman of some means, with his father Speaker of the House and a knight of the realm. He was also said to have introduced rugby to New Zealand in Nelson.   2.	1.
3.	Monro built on the terrace, to the right hand side of what is now the Massey entrance, the land being surrounding on three sides by the ‘Willowbank’ estate. Monro’s house, built in 1889, was a large 2-storied wooden home, and here the 5 Monro children were raised. Called ‘Craiglockhart’, after the family home in Scotland, the drawing room had high arched ceiling of 15 feet – to provide good acoustics for music, in which Charles was trained. This height was, however, soon reduced, allowing another room to be added above. While relatively homely the house had two sets of stairs, with one for the servants and their quarters.
Life seemed fairly idyllic for the Monro children. Although of the right social standing it would appear to be a carefree existence.
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Charles Monro, well travelled and with farming experience, did business in ‘town’ - mainly investment/ lending.  However his passion was gardening. His 51 acres included land on the Terrace surrounding the house and the flat down below where he established an orchard. Besides, he developed substantial gardens of vegetables, native areas and a vinery. Throughout the early 1900s Monro sold off or leased out parts of his estate. In 1931 Charles offered to sell ‘Craiglockhart’ to Massey, but the Government thought the price being asked too high. While Monro died in 1933, it was not until 1943 that the house was sold to the College.	7.
8.	Named Moginie House (‘Mog House’), after Mrs Moginie, whose bequest bought the house, it was used for women students who had become more noticeable at the College with the introduction of ‘Horticulture’. It accommodated 26 students, in the house and army huts adjacent to it. It served as the woman’s hostel for many years and remains a hostel for students.   In 1970 the NZ Rugby Football Union dedicated a memorial to Charles Monro on the top of Monro’s Hill. Surrounded by new accommodation blocks, the name of the house has now reverted to ‘Craiglockhart’.
In 1900 Sir James Prendergast subdivided his large block of land into sections. One of these was bought by a farmer, Arthur Russell.
(Photographs: 1. Charles Monro 1930; 2. Looking up River Road to Craiglockhart 1924; 3 & 4 Monro family at Craiglockhart 1898 ; 5 & 6. Monro children 1902-03, 7. Craiglockhart 1940; 8. Students at ‘Moginie House’ (Craiglockhart) 1945)

Russell Estate - 'Wharerata'

Arthur Russell’s 26 acres was immediately across the metalled road from ‘Craiglockhart’, and here he had built the 28 roomed Whare Rata (named after the Maori name for Arthur Russell’s ‘Redbeard’ – House of Redbeard).

1.	Designed by Natusch it was well positioned for the view and sun. Newly retired  Arthur and Ethel Russell settled there with their four children, interspersed by a long period of residence in England. Highly respected and well connected, the family moved in the best social circles within and beyond Palmerston North. Arthur died in 1924 and his wife lived on in the house until her death in 1949. 2.
3.	As Whare Rata protruded into the College’s land it had been long sought after for expansion. It was said that Ethel Russell told Professor Peren he would never have it as long as she lived, and so he did not. It was finally bought by the Agricultural College and came into use in 1951, after one of the daughters’ (Beatrix) right of occupancy had expired. Ethel Russell had left the gate cottage and half an acre to John Cameron, long time helper on the estate, and for this land the Government had to negotiate separately. Wharerata (as one word) remains today, looking outwardly very similar, serving as a function centre and staff club.
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(Photographs: 1. Arthur Russell 1910; 2. Building Whare Rata (left) and Craiglockhart 1900 (right); 3. Drawing Room 1920s; 4. Whare Rata 1925)

Bourke Home

Another buyer of a Prendergast section of land was Lawrence Bourke, a ‘cow cocky’ who had made his own way in life. He established a dairy farm behind the Whare Rata estate, and built a relatively modest single storied wooden villa. The land was purchased by the Government for Massey Agricultural College in 1946 when Lawrence Bourke died. A road named in his honour remains there today. Lawrence Bourke 1890s

Abraham Estate - 'Tiritea'

The 24 roomed house, ‘Tiritea’, was built in 1903, on 17 acres. It was apparently very grand, with double doors opening onto the 2 storied hall, with domed skylight and stairwell, and living rooms going off. Bedrooms went off the gallery above. With their 7 children the Abrahams lived in the house until 1920 when it was sold to Percy McHardy and became known as the McHardy homestead.

It was this homestead that also came up for sale in 1926 when the College was looking for a site. Part of the appeal was that if the Government bought the Batchelar estate for the College the Borough Council announced it would buy the McHardy land and gift it to the College for expansion. This offer was as attractive as the site itself and possibly swung the deal for the College’s location. It was decided that the College proper would be set up on the land above the Batchelar estate, with the hope that the Russell land would also be acquired at some stage.  T’iritea’, the large homestead, occupied the prime site so it was decided to split it in two and move the two halves back for renovation - half for the Principal’s residence and half for the administration block. On the original site of ‘Tirtea’ was built the ‘Old Main Building’, which opened in 1931, and the departments moved up from ‘Willowbank’. ‘Tiritea’, in its two parts, remains today as office accommodation and the Vice Chancellor of Massey University residence.

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(Photographs: 1. Richard Slingsby Abraham c1910; 2.Tiritea c1909; 3. Half of Tiritea as office accommodation 1940s (left); 4. Half of Tiritea as Principal’s Residence c1950)

Out on a limb somewhat dubiously named one of the ‘Massey houses’ was another grand home back across the river. 

Strang Estate - 'Woodhey'/'Caccia Birch'

What is now known as Caccia Birch house was built in 1892 in Te Awe Awe Street by Jacob  Nannestad of the sawmilling firm Richter, Nannestad and Jenssen. The original home was designed by L G West, and was a simpler version of the two-storied house we know today. Bought by Jack Strang, a farmer turned shareholder of Manawatu Meat Company, it substantially altered in 1903. It was surrounded by 12 acres of garden, had a lagoon and looked across the golf links and polo grounds to the Manawatu River. The Strangs called it ‘Woodhey’, after Mrs Strang’s family home in England, and here they raised their 3 boys.  

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‘Woodhey’ perhaps has the most interesting and diverse past of the houses. From 1908-10, while the Strang’s were overseas, Woodhey was leased as Government House for Lord and Lady Plunkett, when Government House in Wellington was unavailable for use.

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In 1921 'Woodhey' was sold to William Caccia Birch from which it got its present name. He and his wife retired to the house from Hawkes Bay, and enjoyed it with their grown up children and their families. After the death of William Caccia Birch the lagoon and adjacent land was sold to the Palmerston North City Council for a public recreation area, and later the house and grounds were gifted to the Government.

The Government made various uses of the home - during the war as a Military Staff Training Centre, surrounded by army huts, and from 1946 by the Palmerston North Hospital Board as a convalescent home for women who served in the forces and then for nurses.  In 1960 the house was made available to the Palmerston North University College being set up in the city by Victoria University. However, with the amalgamation of the University College and Massey Agricultural College and the formation of Massey University in 1963 it was of no further use to the university and was used by the College of Education for a time. By the end of 1976 the house stood empty and unused. Gifted back to the city of Palmerston North it was some time before decisions were made about its future. Eventually under a Trust Board set up in 1989, the house has been refurbished and now serves as a conference centre.

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Keiller - 'Atawhai' 

The last of the houses to be built was on the 53 acre estate bought by Edwin Keiller and his 2 brothers in 1908. Having lost his young wife to tuberculosis, Eddy Keiller was looking for a healthy site for his young family of 2 children.

The land bought was a magnificent site, atop the sheer cliff opposite the Batchelar homestead. At the time there was no access so everything to build the house had to be hauled up the bluff. After the house was built a steep access road was made up the face of the bluff. Again it was designed by Natusch, with 17 rooms, although it looked larger as the rooms were so big. It was a beautiful home made of Australian jarrah, heart matai, rimu and kauri, with a 15 foot stud on the ground floor and 12 foot upstairs. From its vantage point it had panoramic views over the city from large picture windows on both floors. While the brothers remained on their Raumai farm his parents-in-law, the Potts’, and governess moved in to raise the children. The house was named ‘Atawhai’ (warm welcome) by Mrs Potts. 

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Mr Potts developed 7 acres in lawn and garden, with a feature sunken garden, and the rest as a ‘miniature farm’, with stables, gardener’s cottage, workshop and green house. 

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Sadly Edwin Keiller also died young 2 years later, but his parents-in-law and his brothers continued to live there and develop the estate. The house was later lived in by Brian Keiller, the son, and his family. 

In 1962 Brian Keiller sold Atawhai, with 30 acres of land, to the Presbyterian Educational Purposes Trust, to be administered by them as a hostel for male students. It was renamed Fergusson Hall and was opened in 1963 by Sir Bernard Fergusson. The steep access road was closed to traffic and a road opened up via Clifton Terrace. New purpose built hostels have since been built on the land to increase accommodation, but the house remains today.

(Photographs: 1. Atawhai 1920s; 2 & 3. Gardens of Atawhai 4 & 5. Interior 6. Atawhai 1930s) 

Aerial Photographs of Massey Agricultural College Area 

Tiritea (left), Wharerata in the trees (right) and Craiglockhart just visible (far right) prior to Massey Agricultural College 1910.

Overlooking the former Batchelar farm land towards Massey Agricultural College. - the ‘Old Main Building’ (centre) on the Terrace, with Tiritea, in two halves, directly to the right and Whare Rata to the right of the picture 1939. 

Massey Agricultural College. The two parts of Tiritea are just visible in the trees behind the Old Main Building, and Wharerata in the foreground centre c1960s.