1842 - Construction Started

William Higgins, a sawyer from Bristol, England, and his wife Mary (formerly Mrs White) arrived in Nelson in May 1842 onboard the Clifford, after sailing from Gravesend on the 18th of Dec 1841. With them were Mary’s daughter Mary White aged 6 (b. 8.6.1835 in Somerset, England), and son Matthew, aged 7 months. William bought the 50-acre Waimea South Section 65 from an absentee landowner and set about constructing a cob cottage with a thatched roof. Various stories put the construction of the house between 1842 and 1849.

1849 - Census

According to the 1849 Census, William declared there were 3 females (Mrs Higgins, Mary White & his daughter Sarah) and 3 males living on the property, (William, and sons Matthew and Phillip), along with 9 cows and 10 pigs. There were 2 acres planted in wheat, 1 acre in oats and 1 acre of potatoes. The dwelling was made of ‘earth’ with a thatched roof¹, and owned by Joseph Bennett of England, who never came out to New Zealand.

1958 - Land Purchased

Absentee landowner Joseph Bennett sold the land to William Higgins on 29 September 1858.²
Mary Higgins’s daughter, 22-year-old Mary White, married John Taylor on the 10th of February. William sold the couple a portion of his 50-acre section on its northern boundary and a second cobb house was built. This house is still occupied.

1869 - James Woolley

2nd January was the end of the Higgins tenure of both sections as James Woolley of Brightwater bought them both, and the Higgins and Taylor families moved to Wakefield. William and Mary’s children died young and without issue.

1965 - Baigent Family

When the property was bought by the Baigent family, the house had become derelict, for some time it was used for farm implement and hay storage.

1985 - Restoration

Enter a group of 6 artists led by Suzie Moncrieff. She went to the office of Baigent Forest Industries and was told that if she helped out with the restoration, she could rent the building for $1 per year. A full restoration began, a collaboration between Susie’s art group, the Nelson Provincial Arts Council, the Baigent family (who made a generous donation), the Nelson Historical Society and the NZ Historical Places Trust. The cobb was repaired with a mixture of cow manure, tussock grass and a clay gravel mix painted the original buff colour. The thatch was replaced with shingles made from reject kiwifruit boxes.³ To help raise the profile of the Gallery, Susie organised an annual sculpture award, and convinced Baigent Forest Industries to sponsor the $1000 prize.

1986 - Historic Site

On the 9th September, it was listed as Historic Place Category 1 by Heritage New Zealand.⁴

1987 - World of Wearable Arts

After Baigent Forestry was bought by Carter Holt Harvey, Moncrieff had to come up with another way of promoting the Gallery. She went up to a ‘wearable art’ exhibition in Auckland which was less than she had expected, and the idea for the Nelson Wearable Art show was conceived as a result. The very first Chez Elco World of Wearable Art show was held at the Gallery, under canvas on a rainy evening with 200 people.⁵

1996 - Residential Conversion

The Gallery closed. The cottage was converted back to residential. A mezzanine floor was added, along with a shower and toilet room in a corner of the lean-to. ⁶

2013 - Current Owners

The property was bought by the current owners, and they continue to complete necessary maintenance work, including installing drainage around the bottom of the house, spouting has been added and an interior wall that was damaged by water has been replaced. The roof has been replaced with the help of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.