This house was probably constructed for Mrs Ane Magrethe Christensen during 1901 and is an example of an early-twentieth century square-plan villa.
Ane emigrated from Denmark to New Zealand with her husband Jens and some of their children in 1874.
Jens Christensen purchased this half of Town Section 62 in October 1881; at this time it appears a small cottage was present on the section, and this can be seen on Skinner's 1880 Map of New Plymouth.
Ane's first son Carl Sorensen (from her first relationship) emigrated here in 1892; his wife Dagmar and their first two children, Viggo and Holger, followed in 1896. Further children were later born in New Plymouth: Helga, Gudrun, Agnes, Markus and Astrid. They settled on a farm on 213 Smart Rd in 1904, where the villa still stands today.
In December 1899, Jens passed away, with Ane continuing to live in the old cottage. In June 1901, Ane took out a mortgage on the property, and it seems likely that this relates to the construction of the present home - possibly paid for with money from her late husband's estate.
Ane remained in the home until 1919, when it was purchased by E (?) Russell; during Russel's ownership the house appears to have been rented by Mrs Orm Van de Water. Russell didn't own the property for long, and the house was sold to Thomas B. Paton in 1921.
Additional information kindly supplied by Jill Ryan, descendent of Ane Christensen.
Related items:
Town Section 62, Taranaki Land Deeds Index I1 Page 591 and I5 page 158. (Archives New Zealand)
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