This attractive Neo-Georgian/Georgian Revivial style home was constructed for Phillip Lyell Bennett and his family in 1929-30. The home was designed by New Plymouth architect William Newton Stephenson, with a copy of the the blueprint plans held by NPDC - these are dated July 1929.
The Neo-Georgian style was popularised in New Zealand during the 1920s through the work of architects such as Cecil Wood in Christchurch, and William Gray Young in Wellington. This is the only large Neo-Georgian style home from the 1920s-30 period in New Plymouth, and probably the only building designed by Stephenson in this style.
A permit was granted by the Borough Council to Phillip Bennett on 12 September 1929 for the construction of a house on Pt B TB, Belt Road – E. W. Hodder was the builder, and the estimated construction cost was £1100.
Phillip was born at Lyell in Nelson on 30 March 1898, and later moved to New Plymouth. He fought in both the First and Second World Wars, and was involved in campaigns at Gallipoli in WWI, and the Western Front and the Pacific in WWII - for his services he earned a number of medals.
Related items:
Taranaki DEED45 Sheet 1 Town Belt B (1927), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP5064 Sheet 1 (1928), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
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