Heritage grant for Ngaio Marsh house

The Council has approved a heritage grant of close to $40,000 for the house where world-renowned crime writer and theatre director Dame Ngaio Marsh lived for most of her life.

Ngaio Marsh House is to be strengthened and repaired.

The grant will be used to help pay for conservation, strengthening and repair work.

The house, at 37 Valley Rd, Cashmere, is a protected heritage building and has been in the ownership of the Ngaio Marsh Trust since 1992.

They operate the house and garden as a museum dedicated to the memory of Dame Ngaio.

The house was originally designed in 1906 for Dame Ngaio’s parents by renowned architect Samuel Hurst Seager.

Apart from some extended periods spent overseas, Dame Ngaio lived in the house the remainder of her life, extending the original modest bungalow on several occasions. She largely designed, planted and maintained the home's terraced gardens herself.