The Smith House

Location: Picton

One of Picton’s prominent landmarks, the Smith House, is an excellent example of an Italianate style villa and has a New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) Category 2 rating.

Built for George Alexander Smith, his wife and their 14 children on land they purchased in Oxford Street in 1875, it appears in early photos of Picton.

A discovery during renovation of an uncovered weatherboard bearing the signature 'R.A. Storey, 9.30 am, 7/12/1886' suggests the house was completed in the late 1880s.

A Scotsman, Mr Smith was a builder who went into business in Picton in 1872 with Thomas Philpotts, as George Smith and Co.

Their timber came from a sawmill also owned by Mr Smith, and Mr Charles Reeves, and the firm was responsible for many fine Picton buildings including the hospital, Oxley's Hotel, the Council Chambers and the Anglican Church.

George Smith enjoyed rowing and at one time employed the entire Picton No.1 crew in his businesses, overseeing their training and allowing time off for regattas.

Smith House is a two-storey Italianate villa with Gothic trim, clad with totara and rimu with a corrugated iron roof, two extensive balconies on the second story and a veranda on the first. Features include elaborate panelling inside and out, deep bay windows, and ornate cornice and skirting work.