Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga historical villa restored

By Allison Hess
Junior reporter - digital·Bay of Plenty Times·
26 May, 2017 11:34 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

St Peters House manager Cath Page takes us on a walk through the newly restored 116-year-old villa.

One of Tauranga oldest villas has been fully restored, giving its staff and clients something to celebrate.

Originally built in 1901 the gabled, red-roofed St Peters House has been fully restored to a warm, comfortable place for the social outreach service based in the building.

Staff at the Spring St villa wore coats to work in winter while their clients brought their own blankets in to keep warm during counselling.

Grants, donations and bequests funded the $400,000 project which saw the house completely lifted to pour new piles, structural earthquake proofing, electrical upgrade, interior remodelling, three new counselling rooms, insulation and heating.

"We could have knocked it down and build a more modern, utilitarian building but we made a commitment to save the house - Tauranga doesn't have many historic buildings left," St Peters House manager Cath Page said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said clients who came in were struggling with hard issues in life and keeping the villa made it feel more comfortable and safe, like a home, for those people.

 St Peters House back in the day. Photo/supplied
St Peters House back in the day. Photo/supplied

The house was stripped down to its kauri bones but much of its historical character was preserved.

Kauri panels, which were revealed when layers of wallpaper and paint were peeled away, have been made into a feature wall in the staff room and used to make the reception counter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Leftover kauri was given to local handymen or St Peters in the City church-goers who made crosses.

The front door was the original, complete with its old-fashioned crank doorbell.

Even the inside and outside paint schemes were modelled on houses from the early 1900s.

Ms Page said the clients were loving the restored villa.

It was now able to better handle clients coming in for free counselling, education and personal development, budgeting and debt help, and social work.

Reverend J W Smyth, 1912-1937. He had to use the horse and carriage to conduct services in Otumoetai, Te Puna on Sundays. Photo/supplied
Reverend J W Smyth, 1912-1937. He had to use the horse and carriage to conduct services in Otumoetai, Te Puna on Sundays. Photo/supplied

One counselling room was replaced with three warm, comfortable rooms with heating. Staff felt much safer with new security measures, panic buttons and telephones in every room.

At the very least the restored house would not lose all power if one too many heaters were turned on in winter - as it was prone to do over the years.

Restoring the house brought to light historical treasures such as handmade nails used to hold the whole building together.

A hot water cylinder, which Ms Page estimated to be one of the first in Tauranga, was found and carted away to the museum store rooms.

A celebration of the house was being held on Monday evening to mark the completion of the refurbishment.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

ST PETERS HOUSE

- The big manse housed ministers of the Presbyterian Church and their families in Tauranga from 1901 until around the 1980s

- The project was made possible through donations, bequests and grants from TECT and the Lottery Community Facility Fund

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM

The man apologised to his victim, but pleaded not guilty.

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

07 Jul 06:38 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP