Lewis Tilleard Natusch, but always known as Charles Natusch, (4 October 1859 – 16 July 1951) was a noted

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

architect and quantity surveyor, known particularly as a builder of fine houses for wealthy clients.

Early life

Born and raised in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, he trained there as an architect, travelled to the United States and Canada in 1882–83, and returned to England. On 14 March 1883, he married Ada Spencer at Kelvedon, Essex. He shared the liberal political views of

Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts (21 April 1814 – 30 December 1906), born Angela Georgina Burdett, was a British philanthropist, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet and Sophia, formerly Coutts, daughte ...

, and she was influential in him getting a town planning commission in Westcliff,

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. The Westward Ho Hotel design came out of this commission, and it was his last major work in England. In 1886, he departed with his wife and their first two sons for New Zealand.

Career in New Zealand

For the next 30 years, Natusch established himself between

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and Hawke's Bay particularly as a builder of fine houses in a variety of styles. These ranged from those that displayed an Italian influence, such as Bushy Park (1905) near

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, through Tudor style like Maungaraupi (1906) in Marton. Other examples of his work that reflect his use of local materials are Erewhon (1898) near Taihape, Matapiro (1907) in Hawke's Bay, and Atawhai (1908) in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. He also introduced innovations into commercial and industrial buildings as well as churches. Natusch later had his architectural practice in

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

, and one of his pupils was Louis Hay.

Family and death

Charles and Ada had ten children. He died on 16 July 1951 at

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...

aged 91, survived by his wife and eight of their children. Three of their sons, Aleck, Rene and Stanley, became architects and quantity surveyors and carried on the family firm as Natusch & Sons. Rene's son,

Guy Natusch Guy Kingdon Natusch (7 February 1921 – 30 September 2020) was a New Zealand architect. He grew up in Hawke's Bay, where he practised until his retirement in 1997. Biography Natusch was born in Hastings in 1921, the son of architect Rene Natus ...

, continued the family firm until his retirement around 1997.

Noted works

Some of Natusch's works are registered by Heritage New Zealand as indicated in the following list. Later designs were by C. Tilleard Natusch and Sons, and it is unclear whether Charles Natusch was involved. *1884 Westward Ho Hotel,

(demolished 1965) *1890

Gwavas Gwavas is a residential council estate on the southern outskirts of the town of Newlyn in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated immediately west of Gwavas Road and takes its name from nearby Gwavas Farm. Cornwall Council online ...

, Hawkes Bay (Category I) *1892 Homebush,

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

(Category II) *1898 Erewhon, Taihape *1900 Te Aute College Chapel *1901 Westella, Feilding *1903 Springvale,

Tikokino Tikokino is a town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located northwest of Waipawa and southwest of Hastings. The township is located on State Highway 50. The township was founded by ...

(Category II) *1903 Silverford,

*1904

St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...

, Napier (destroyed in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) *1904 Rangiatea (Bulls) *1905 Bushy Park, Kai Iwi *1906 Wellington Stock Exchange *1906 St Andrews Presbyterian Church,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

(destroyed in

) *1906 Maungaraupi, Marton (Category I) *1906 Shalimar,

*1907 Matapiro, Hawkes Bay (Category I) *1908 Atawhai, Palmerston North *1932 McGruer's Building, Napier (Category II) *1935 Kia Ora,

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

(Category II)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natusch, Charles New Zealand architects 1859 births 1951 deaths Quantity surveyors New Zealand surveyors