Gone West: The Middleton House, Grafton (1960-61) and Waiatarua (1968-69)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The house that Peter Middleton designed for himself and his family in the Auckland suburb of Grafton (1960–61) has an established place in the published record for its reintroduction of traditionalist and populist references, most famously, a finial above one gable end. In 1968, the Grafton Road site was cleared for an extension of the city’s motorway. A period publication records that the Middleton House was cut into pieces and relocated. It gives no details about its new site. Historians of New Zealand architecture believed the house to have been lost. Recently, however, it was found in Waiatarua, on the western outskirts of Greater Auckland. This article explores the history and significance of the house, and the impact of relocation on it, both physically and culturally. It shows that it was the outcome of a carefully considered design practice. With relocation, the context changed from urban to semi-rural, but in both locations the house has been enjoyed as a family home and as a haunt for members of Auckland’s architecture and design communities. The article concludes that the relocation of the Middleton House was the best outcome for it, introducing a new layer of life, significance and value.