Stunning heritage mansion one of two homes built for daughters

These two Queen Anne Revival-style houses were built for two daughters - and the owner of this one has lived in both.

Rosemary Creighton says the Roslyn homes in Dunedin were both finished in 1905, but the sisters’ father Andrew Lees died just before completion. She assumes that determined the name of the one she now lives in, Mahara, which is Māori for memory.

Creighton and her former partner first bought the neighbouring house, and when this one came on the market they decided to sell and buy next door. That was back in 1998, and she says it was harder to move next door than further away: “No truck was going to come.”

Now on her own, Creighton has continued to renovate and maintain the huge, five-bedroom mansion since 2015, keeping to the original character of the home, which has a Historic Place Category 2 listing. But at first, she wasn’t sure if she would keep it.

“I was going to sell the house and move somewhere else because I had the kids. But someone said to me, if you decide to sell this house, let me know. I’ll buy it and pull it down and put some apartments there.

“That just flipped the switch for me. I thought, oh my gosh, it could be gone, and I couldn’t make that happen. So, I just started working to restore the house. Nothing has been taken out of it that’s original.”

Not surprisingly, character features abound. The two-storey “sister” houses are both defined by steep turrets and ornate iron fretwork on verandas on both levels. And, of course, it now has the heritage listing, so it cannot be demolished.

The exterior has been protected with a new slate roof to match the original; the guttering was replaced and the paint scraped back to the timber for a fresh repaint.

On the inside, the original cathedral stained glass remains a glorious feature in the soaring stairwell, and there are more stained glass windows in the formal living room and the main bedroom on the top floor.

Creighton says a local expert in stained glass, Peter MacKenzie, believes it is the best stained glass in Dunedin. It was made by a local artist, Robert Henry Fraser.

Beautiful polished heart rimu also features throughout the house, and includes the wall panelling and ornate spiral staircase. The carpet in this area was specially loomed with a border to fit around the walls and doors.

Imported English wallpapers are in keeping with the era, as are the paint colours. The kitchen also has a traditional feel, and is a light-filled living space that opens to a colourful landscaped garden.

But while the house does it’s best to steal the attention, there is also an expansive view over the harbour and peninsula and out to the ocean beyond.

“The view is really stunning, and the house. I’ve been here for this long and I just love it more and more,” Creighton says. But she admits she’s of an age now where it makes sense to downsize.

“It needs to go to someone who ‘gets it’, someone who really does love old things and understands, perhaps, the work that has gone on to get it to this point. The reason for this [the work] hasn’t been for me to make money out of it.

“The reason has been to leave this legacy for Dunedin. It has always been about that. I could have done things in a very different way and saved an awful lot of money, but that’s not what it was about, because this is such a good piece of architecture and construction.

“I had a builder here who said it has been so well built there’s just one centimetre [difference] between the front and the back.”

Heritage New Zealand Pohere Taonga has plenty of information about Mahara, including the fact that first owner Annie Lees died suddenly at the age of 52, and left most of her money to charity: “Nothing was left to her husband”.

The significance of Mahara is recognised: “Of enormous aesthetic appeal, architectural grandeur and historical associations, Mahara makes a significant contribution to our understanding of turn-of-the century residences and Dunedin’s elite.”

The property at 2 Fifield St, Roslyn, Dunedin is for sale by negotation. It is listed with Abby Timms and Pam Timms of Bayleys.