This attractive villa residence was constructed between 1890 and 1894 for William Gordon - it was originally located on Town Section 136 (present 66 Young Street). The villa remained the Gordon family home until 1940, when extensions saw it become part of the neighbouring Iona Private Hospital; a function which it served until the mid-1980s, when it was relocated to its present Weld Road site.
Gordon Family Home
During April 1890, Town Section 136 was advertised for sale by Newton King on behalf of owner J. C. Davies, who was leaving New Plymouth. At this time no house was present on the section, and the vacant property was purchased at auction by draughtsman William Francis Robert Gordon.
The exact construction date of the villa is unclear, but was sometime between Gordon's purchase of the property in April 1890, and early-1894. The earliest known surviving NPBC rates book covering Gordon's period of ownership is for the 1894-95 rating year and at this time a house (almost certainly the present house), is noted as being present on the section, with the property having a rateable value of £30.
William Gordon was born in NSW, Australia in 1848. He was educated at West Maitland High School, where he joined the drawing class for figures landscape and mapping, for which he won the Rectors prize. He worked as a book-keeper for Messrs Peter & Thomas McWilliam of Dungog between 1864 and 1867, before emigrating to New Zealand in late 1867. He arrived at Hokitika aboard the Jane Lockhart, and then proceeded to Wellington in January 1868. At Wellington he first worked for W. Tonks, and later R. J. Duncan, before taking a position at the Wellington Independent. For ten years from 1873 he was employed by the Post & Telegraph Department at Wellington, Whanganui, Oamaru & New Plymouth, before being transferred to the Survey Department as draughtsman at New Plymouth.
Both William and Mary lived the remainder of their lives in the house; William died on the 4th of May 1936, and Mary on the 18th of May 1940 - both are buried in Te Henui Cemetery.
Iona Private Hospital
In 1925, Misses Mary and Catherine Muir opened the Iona Private Hospital in a converted house located on neighbouring Town Section 135 (the site of present 70 Young Street).
The Muir's continued to operate the hospital until 1940, at which time it was purchased by a group of New Plymouth doctors. At about the same time, the doctors also purchased the Gordon's former home, and undertook renovations connecting the villa with the original hospital buildings. The permit that probably relates to this work was granted by the New Plymouth Borough Council to H. Watkins on the 8th of November 1940 for additions to a building on Town Section 136 - V. E. Mason was the contractor, and the estimated construction cost was £150.
The hospital was run as a private company until 1975, when a decision was made by the doctor shareholders to convert Iona into a charitable trust hospital. In late 1984, ownership of Iona was transferred to Southern Cross Hospital Trust, who would soon embark on a major redevelopment of hospital facilities.
Coastal Relocation
As part of the planned hospital upgrade, the old buildings on site were to be demolished to make way for modern facilities with increased capacity. Oākura GP Brent Anderson saw an opportunity, and ended up purchasing the historic villa for a dollar; saving the historic building from certain demolition. Brent soon had the villa relocated to a property on Lower Weld Road which he had purchased several years earlier, and on which he was already living - in a plastic hot-house! When Cyclone Bola hit in 1998, the hot-house was destroyed, and Brent was forced into the partially renovated villa. When the renovation was later completed, the house became home to Brent, his then partner (now wife) Susie Chitty, and their children. Susie transformed the large garden which was at times opened to the public. Brent and Susie went onto run the property as a wedding venue called 'Te Maru Farm'.
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