Stuart Nash and family to transform historic Napier Courthouse into home

Stuart and Sarah Nash have purchased the historic Napier Courthouse on Marine Parade with the intention of making it their family home. Composite photos / NZME

A historic Napier building could soon become a family home for former Cabinet minister and Napier MP Stuart Nash and his family.

Nash and his wife Sarah purchased the Marine Parade landmark Conservation House from Mana Ahuriri earlier this year.

The two-storey wooden structure, built in the 1870s on the corner of Marine Parade and Browning St, served as the Napier Courthouse for about 113 years, until 1988.

It later became the home of the Department of Conservation in Hawke’s Bay.

The site and the building were vested in Ahuriri hapū as part of cultural redress in the Ahuriri Hapū Claims Settlement Act, signed off after the third reading of the Act in Parliament in December 2021.

The trust made the decision to sell Conservation House late last year, and the sale of the building was confirmed by Mana Ahuriri Holdings Ltd independent chairman Mike Pohio at the start of February.

“Sarah, my wife, actually called me up and said, “Hey, look! This building is for sale.” It is an iconic building, and I love old buildings - I grew up in an old building up on Lincoln Rd when I was young,” Nash said.

The building holds more significance for him than simply its age, however.

“My father was a local lawyer in town for about 40 or 50 years, and he practised in that building when it was a courthouse, and my grandfather was a lawyer in town as well, and he practised in that building pre-war. So there is a good bit of family history there, which is quite nice,” Nash said.

He said he and Sarah contacted the agent and, after doing their due diligence, decided to purchase it.

Nash and Sarah plan to live in the building with two of their four children, and are considering converting one wing into an Airbnb.

The building has a Category 1 classification under the Historic Places Act 1993, the highest level of recognition under the Act.

“In order to do anything in it, we need to work with the local council, with Heritage New Zealand and with an architect and planner. We’re not under any illusion - it is not like the stock-standard house,” Nash said.

“It is a real privilege and pleasure and we want to make sure we do a good job of it, not just for ourselves, but as a shining example of early colonial architecture in Napier.”

He said the interior of the building was in very good condition and he was optimistic about how long it might be before his family could live there.

“There is a little bit of work to do before we can move in but, to be honest, not much.”

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz