This attractive two-storey timber villa is clad in plain weatherboard with sash windows and two chimneys; the builder is currently unknown, although based on the style the architect was almost certainly Frank Messenger.
Town Section 1181 was purchased by local accountant Thomas Kelsey in February 1900. The 1900-01 New Plymouth Borough Council Rating Book lists Kelsey as the ratepayer for Town Sections 1181 and 1182, with no dwelling yet constructed on the section; the properties were valued at £3 and £2, respectively.
It is thought that construction of the house had commenced by mid 1900, as in June 1900, repairs in Gover Street were to be undertaken "near Mr Kelsey's new house". By the 1901-02 rating year, the house had been completed, and Town Section 1181 was noted as with house, and was valued at £50. (Taranaki Herald 12 June 1900 p.2)
Kelsey only owned the property for a short time, selling it to G. T Murray, the District Road Engineer, in April of 1901. Soon after purchasing the property Murray had the house connected to the telephone network: Tel. number 168. Murray owned the property until 1915, when the ownership passed to W.J. Chaney.
This property is part of a group of large wooden homes clustered along a prominent ridge overlooking the city. These homes were constructed for some of New Plymouth's wealthiest and most prominent citizens in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries; large homes from this period are now uncommon in New Plymouth, with many having been demolished.
See: Taranaki Land Deeds Index I1, page 580; CT TN126/42
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