Stanley Smith Residence, 406 Devon Street East (circa 1901)

Town Section 2044 was subject to Land Transfer Act in 1893, with J. B. Connett listed as owner - see DP 517. Connett was still listed as the ratepayer for the 1900-01 rating year, with no house present on the section at this time. 

Town Sections 2044, 2045, 2046 and 2047 were advertised for sale by Walter Bewley, on behalf of J. B. Connett during October 1900. By the 1901-02 rating year, Stanley John Smith is listed as the ratepayer, and a house is noted as being constructed on the section - this seems to date the present villa to about early 1901. 

Architect John Arthur Maisey advertised for tenders for the "Erection of a Residence, Devon Street, for Stanley Smith Esq" during July 1901, and it is thus possible Maisey may have designed the house. However, the villa at nearby 412A Devon Street East was also constructed for Stanley Smith at this time, and it is unclear which house the advertisement relates to, although it is also possible, he designed both homes.

Architect John Arthur Maisey

Maisey was born in 1860 in Birmingham England, where he practiced for a number of years. He arrived in New Plymouth with his family in 1897 and farmed on Barrett Road for several years, selling his farm in June 1900, and moving into New Plymouth soon after. Maisey is not well known in New Plymouth, although he apparently designed a significant number of local buildings (most notably the 1904 New Plymouth Exhibition Buildings - a 'temporary' structure located on Poverty Flat/St Michael's Square), before shifting to Wellington in early 1905. In Wellington Maisey practiced in partnership with Henry Johns from 1905 until his retirement in 1908 - in just three years Maisey and John designed over 40 buildings.

Related item:

Town Section 2044, Taranaki Land Deed Index I3 Page 332 (Archives New Zealand).