A generation ago, in cities in the south of New Zealand’s South Island, very large Edwardian houses, formerly home to bank managers or successful doctors, fell out of favour. Today, they are B & Bs run by childless couples escaping Auckland or, in Dunedin, highly sought after student flats.
However, for a short period, they were within the financial reach of folk who weren’t especially highly paid. When he was first married, Neville Watkinson and his wife owned such a house, a mansion really, with several very large reception rooms, window and door furniture imported from the US, and a truly imposing front entrance: wide, curving steps led to a deep porch and a tall and broad door flanked by stained glass panels.
Quite an entrance
By chance, Neville saw…
