Messenger House, 219 Gill Street (1903)

This two-storey home is located at the eastern end of Gill Street overlooking the Te Hēnui River and was designed by Frank Messenger as his private residence in 1903. 

Frank Messenger purchased Lot 21 of ‘The Pines’ subdivision in late 1902, with the section registered under his name on 22 December. At the time of purchase, Frank and Lucy were living in the two-storey villa at present-day 17 Vivian Street, designed by Messenger, and constructed during 1899-1900. 

Several months after purchasing the section, during February 1903, the Taranaki Herald reported that Messenger was intending to build a house on the section. A construction permit for the house was granted by the New Plymouth Borough Council on 7 July 1903, with the estimated construction cost being £650. Messenger is first listed as residing at this location in the 1904 edition of Stones Street Directory. 

Frank and Lucy resided in the house until 1916, when Frank designed a new English Domestic Revival style house at the corner of Eliot and Wakefield Streets.

The house is clad in plain weatherboard and incorporates elements from the fashionable Eastern Stick style. Originally fitted with sash windows in the distinctive Messenger style of a six-light upper pane over a single lower pane, these have been replaced with aluminium replicas.

Frank Messenger is one of New Plymouth's most accomplished architects, who practised in the city from the 1890s until the 1940s, designing numerous residential and commercial buildings both in New Plymouth and across New Zealand. He designed a variety of buildings, including cottages; single and two-storey villas; wooden, masonry, and reinforced concrete commercial premises - the firm Messenger, Griffiths and Taylor even collaborated with Auckland architecture firm Gummer and Ford to design the Wellington Central Library (now City Gallery) in the late 1930s.

Further reading: Messenger House, Mark McCullough, 1995. (TRCGC 728.372 MCG)

Related items:

Colonial Feature Home - Messenger House, page 1 and 2 (North Taranaki Weekender 7 February 1993)

Messenger House, 219 Gill Street New Plymouth, Draft Heritage Assessment (Hamish Crimp, 2019)