Tūpare is a historic homestead and garden in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Tūpare is operated by the

Taranaki Regional Council Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

as a public park and event venue.

Description

Tūpare is an

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

homestead that overlooks the Waiwhakaiho River.

History

In 1932, the land of the property was purchased by

Russell Matthews Sir Russell Matthews (19 July 1896 – 25 November 1987) was a New Zealand civil engineer, roading contractor, businessman, horticulturist and philanthropist. He was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 19 July 1896. Career Matthews was mostl ...

and his wife Mary Matthews ( Brodie). Russell had a passion for horticulture and was inspired by

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

s. Russell spent 12 years building the home to a design from

James Chapman-Taylor James Walter Chapman-Taylor (24 June 1878 – 25 October 1958) was a New Zealand architect. One of the country's most important domestic architects of his time, he is noted mainly for his Arts and Crafts-influenced houses. Chapman-Taylor ...

alongside developing the garden with it. The garden was one of the four (public) gardens that formed a core of the original garden festival of New Plymouth. Tūpare is now owned by the

and is open as a public park.

Legacy

The garden has the highest possible rating from the New Zealand Garden Trust and is 'considered a garden of international significance'. It was awarded the 2020 Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award, one of ten gardens named worldwide.

References

External links

Tūpare
Official website New Plymouth Gardens in New Zealand {{Taranaki-geo-stub