Preserving Frank Sargeson House

Posted Friday, September 16 2011.

Salmond Reed has recently managed a project to preserve Sargeson House at 14A Esmonde Road in Takapuna.

This modest fibrolite bach belonged to one of New Zealand’s foremost authors, Frank Sargeson, and was a meeting place for many of his fellow literati.

Largely due to the efforts of the Frank Sargeson Trust and a voluntary group, The Friends of Frank Sargeson House (instigated by Christine Cole Catley and others in 2007), the bach has been preserved as a literary Museum.

A Conservation Plan prepared for the Sargeson Trust by Salmond Reed in 2006 made a number of recommendations and particularly noted the vulnerability of the building to fire.

The recent project included sensitive repairs to the structure and improvements to the garden, along with the installation of a sprinkler system.

It has been largely due to the enthusiasm of Christine Cole Catley and her fellow “friends” that these aspects of the project have been able to be completed, sadly just weeks before Christine’s death from cancer.

The next phase of the project will involve conservation work on the Museum’s collection of Frank’s books and ephemera.

Christine’s passion lives on in the work the Trustees intend to carry out.

DAME CHRISTINE COLE CATLEY 1922 - August 2011

Journalist, publisher, author and particular champion of women in literature, Dame Christine founded her own publishing company, Cape Catley, in 1973 and published more than one hundred books. She set up and chaired the Frank Sargeson Trust to benefit writers through the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship and in 2007 was instrumental in forming the friends of Sargeson House to support protection of Frank Sargeson's home in Takapuna.

Salmond Reed has worked collaboratively with Christine on this project and acknowledges her tremendous dedication.

Her support and enthusiasm will be sadly missed.