54 Mill Road. Courtesy of Google street view (2021).
54 Mill Road. Courtesy of Google street view (2021).
A permit was granted by the Borough Council to Christian Skitrop on 14 March 1922 for the construction of a house on Lot 5 of W, Mill Road– the estimated construction cost was £300.
It is thought Skitrop either rented or sold the home after construction.
Skitrop and his wife Laurine Catherine appear to have built several houses in Mill Road in the early 1920s but were living elsewhere until retiring to New Plymouth in the early 1940s. They are listed as living at 61 Mill Road on the 1946 electoral roll, before moving to 84 Mill Road.
Christian went missing from Noradene Private Hospital on 1 September 1954 and was found dead the following day on a beach near Paritutu. In a brief obituary it was noted that he had been the borough engineer from 1911-1915 and was a strong supporter of the Methodist church. He was also well-known for the impressive strawberry patch at his house on Mill Road. Catherine died in 1957, aged 78. Their only child, George, died in 1909, aged 10.
Related item:
Taranaki (Lot 5) DP4337 Sheet 1 (1923), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
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