Clark Cottage (New Zealand)

Clark Cottage, also known as Duke House, is an early 20th century historic ceramic brick villa located in Hobsonville, Auckland.

[1] Clark Cottage is a single-storey Italianate villa with a large verandah at the front.

The cottage and creamery were constructed with hollow bricks invented by Thomas Edwin Clark.

The living room has a large fireplace and pressed steel dado rail with an Art Nouveau design.

Between the roof and verandah are modillions and adorning the space between those are a painted red diamond shape.

[1] The interior has ornate moulded timber finishings and pressed metal ceilings with cornices and frieze.

[1] A Magnolia tree located in front of the property was likely planted in 1908 by Margaret Clark.

Some evidence points to a property being built between 1870–1880s but when Reverend Bruce subdivided the land he reported it as being unoccupied.

The Ottos continued to hold the property until 1933 when Harry Barnes purchased it at a mortgagee sale.

The Evans founded the Monterey Park Motor Museum and Model World on the site and continued restoration work on the cottage started by Duke, including rebuilding the rear verandah which was removed by the Ottos.

[1] Following purchase of the land by Summerset Holdings for a retirement village, Clark Cottage underwent a 9-month renovation at a cost of NZ$1.7 million.

A block taken from Clark Cottage