Jacks Mill School Historic Area
The Jacks Mill Historic Area is a four-acre site in Kotuku, bounded by Kotuku Straight and Kotuku Bell Hill Roads. It centres on the former Jacks Mill School and contains a remarkable collection of features created largely by the school’s own pupils.
The Historic Area
The grounds include an ornamental lawn with six heritage trees, Rhododendron shrubs along the borders, diagonal concrete paths, and the base of a Peter Pan statue. The original school building still stands on the site, alongside restored historic boundary fencing, a contemporary concrete courtyard, and various later additions including toilet blocks, a transit classroom, and a shelter shed.
The Model Bungalow
The jewel of the site is the Model Bungalow, built between 1938 and 1940 and registered Category I. It was designed and built entirely by primary school-aged pupils, with the initial design credited to a 12-and-a-half-year-old girl, Rosemary O’Brien. As far as anyone knows, it is the only example in New Zealand of primary school pupils designing and constructing a complete, contemporary model house.
Architecturally, the bungalow reflects an English Cottage style with a nod toward Modernism, placing it in the same design setting as New Zealand’s first State Houses produced by the first Labour Government after 1937. This is a striking comparison given that the school was working in isolation on the remote West Coast, with little to no access to architects or the broader architectural trends of the time (a Christchurch architect is noted to have assisted with helping bring the project to realisation). The finished building incorporated joinery, window casements, open-plan thinking, and modernist interior decoration that were only just gaining acceptance among New Zealand architects at the time.
The project was conceived as a practical education exercise in designing an ideal 1930s home, and it succeeded far beyond that modest goal, producing a building that genuinely reflected the architectural spirit of its era.
Address
District Grey
Street address 1271 Blair Road
Town Kotuku
Postcode 7845