YOUR VISIT WITH NGAIO
Ngaio Marsh photographed during the 1940s : "Ngaio in the spotlight"
This year marks celebrated author, playwright, and creative Ngaio Marsh’s 125th birthday. Born on 23 April in 1895, she shared the same birthday as Shakespeare, and her position in our history is as the nation’s most unparalleled creative icon.
Her Valley Road home in Cashmere was one of the first houses on the hill and was surrounded by tussock. Except for her trips overseas, Ngaio lived in the house for the entirety of her life.
‘Marton Cottage’ was designed by her cousin Samuel Hurst Seager, who was recognised as a leading architect at the time. He designed many well-known buildings in Christchurch, including the three rest houses on the Summit Road – Sign of the Kiwi, Sign of the Bellbird, and Sign of the Packhorse,
as well as many residential properties, and public buildings. Fittingly he was also a pioneering advocate for the preservation of historic buildings and, as a writer and lecturer, promoted a wider understanding of architecture and its history. The Ngaio Marsh House is a category one historic place, and the garden is a registered heritage garden.
Ngaio Marsh had always written plays and stories, but her “whodunnit” career began on a cold, wet weekend in London in 1931. She was bored and sat down to write what would become her first Roderick Alleyn novel, A Man Lay Dead.
A fifty-year span saw Dame Ngaio writing over thirty classic English detective novels, from which her global fame derives. She was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Dorothy L. Sayers. She was regarded by international critics as one of the four Queens of Crime, even surpassing the popularity of Agatha Christie. She was so popular that Penguin moved to republish the ‘Marsh Million’ – a total of one million units of her titles were republished all on the same day, and all of these sold.
Awarded a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement as a detective novelist in 1978 from the Mystery Writers of America, she joined the ranks of Truman Capote, Roald Dahl, Graham Greene, and Daphne du Maurier.
The house has been enlarged over the years but is authentically presented, much as Dame Ngaio lived in it. The table is set with Ngaio’s china, and the dining room and sitting room drapes are made from fabric chosen by Dame Ngaio on her travels. There is also memorabilia from her many Shakespearean productions, her writing desk, and much-lauded Long Room.
The Ngaio Marsh House is run as a house museum, first opening in 1996. The vision of the Ngaio Marsh Trust is to preserve the house as a public amenity which will enrich the national cultural heritage of New Zealand.
A significant proportion of visitors to the house came from overseas and, as everywhere, the lack of overseas tourism due to Covid-19 has hit the organisation hard. A planned 125th bash has evolved into a series of open days to reflect the current state of New Zealand.
For Labour Weekend and select days in late October and early November, the house will be open for tours. Take a guided tour through the house and grounds and find out more about the life and work of Ngaio. View original footage of Ngaio and meet Queen Gertrude from Ngaio’s 1958 production of Hamlet.
There is no need to book; just attend with a little patience and appropriate social distancing.
Heritage Week Open Days
Labour Weekend - 24, 25, 26th
October 31st & 1st November
7th and 8th November
The house will be open from 11am – 3pm for tours.
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
https://givealittle.co.nz/org/httpwwwngaio-marshorgnz
Money raised will go to the running costs, maintenance and upgrade of the property.
Unfortunately, while income is down, running costs remain the same.