Deare Residence, 91 Wallace Place (1923)

On the 23rd of April 1923, a permit was granted to builder Harold Rowe by the New Plymouth Borough Council for the construction of a house on Part Lot 2, Wallace Place - Rowe was the builder, and the estimated construction cost was £1100.

The house was first occupied by James C. Steele until about 1926, and thereafter by prominent New Plymouth businessman Robert James Deare, of Deare's Boot Arcade, located on Devon Street.

Robert Deare lived in the house until his death on 22 August 1957, aged 83 years; his wife Grace had died several years earlier in 1954.