Vogel House facts for kids

Vogel House in 75 Woburn Road, Lower Hutt, New Zealand is a large family home built in 1933 for James and Jocelyn Vogel. It was designed by Heathcote Helmore of the Christchurch architectural firm of Helmore and Cotterill, and built by Walter Dyer of the Lower Hutt firm of Dyer and Halse. Vogel House was presented to the Government as the official residence for the Prime Minister while he was in Wellington, and was used for that purpose from 1977 to 1990. Vogel House was listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (since renamed to Heritage New Zealand) as a Category I historic place in 2008. In 2014, the Commissioner of Crown Lands began the process of disposing of the property under the Land Act 1948. This resulted in him making 3 flawed decisions, all of which had to be set aside. Subsequently, as a result of successful High Court proceedings initiated by the Vogel Family and the recommendations of a retired High Court Judge, the property was returned to the family in October 2019.

History

The land that belongs to Vogel House (about two acres) was initially owned by a series of prominent settlers with connection to the New Zealand Company, and had been used as a poultry farm. One of them, James Kelham, had a cottage built in the 1870s or 1880s, and the building is these days the gatehouse. The cottage is possibly the oldest dwelling in Lower Hutt; more than 100 years old in 1987.

The property changed hands numerous times until it was purchased by James and Jocelyn Vogel in 1932. Jocelyn Vogel (née Riddiford) was the daughter of Vivian Riddiford (1879–1934) of Woburn, Lower Hutt, and the great grand niece of Governor Sir George Grey. In 1932 she had married James (Jim) Vogel. James Vogel was the grandson of Premier Sir Julius Vogel (1835–1899) and the great grandson of Premier James FitzGerald.

As early as 1963 the Vogels were making overtures to the Government to present the house to the nation as an Official Residence for the Prime Minister. Much was also made of the fact that the property was gifted in the centennial year of parliamentary government in Wellington, given the role that the ancestors of the Vogels had played its formation. The government accepted the offer on 13 July 1965 with one of the conditions being that the Vogels could remain in the property until their deaths.

As the Government did not expect that the property would come into their possession for a number of years, little thought was given to the future use of the building. At one point there was an idea that the house and grounds could be turned into a New Zealand Administration College, the extensive grounds providing ample room to construct the necessary buildings. However, in 1966 the Vogels decided to leave the house for family reasons and retire to their residence in the Marlborough Sounds. This left the Government searching for a use for the property.

The Vogels suggested that the Australian High Commission, who were looking for a temporary residency, would be a suitable tenant, and by mid 1966 the Government had entered into discussions with the Vogels over this proposed new use for the building. The Australian High Commission were known to be keen to secure the Vogel property as it adjoined the temporary American Embassy and the residence of the United Kingdom trade commissioner adjoined the Vogel House property. From 1967 to 1976 the house was occupied by the Australian High Commission.

Since 1977 the house has been used as the official residence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, when Robert Muldoon renovated it, entertaining the Queen there in February 1977. However his successor David Lange preferred to live in central Wellington, in a rented flat close to Parliament.

Since 1990 the Official Residence of the Prime Minister has once again been Premier House in Tinakori Road. Vogel House was used by the Governor-General from 2008 to 2012 while Government House was being renovated.

On 27 June 2008, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust listed Vogel House as a Category I historic place for "its outstanding historical significance".

Legal battle over ownership

In 2014, the Commissioner of Crown Lands decided the property was no longer needed. To this end, he initiated a disposal process under the Land Act 1948. This resulted in the Commissioner making 3 flawed decisions, all of which were successfully challenged by the Vogel Family. The first 2 decisions were to dispose of the property to 2 charities and the third decision was to sell the property on the open market. The challenge to the third decision was made by the Vogel Family by way of High Court judicial review proceedings. The Court upheld the challenge because it determined the Commissioner's decision contained a material error of law and so ordered him to reconsider it. Subsequently, and as a result of recommendations made to the Commissioner by a retired High Court Judge, the property was returned to the Vogel Family in October 2019. The Commissioner initially estimated the disposal costs of the property to be less than $20,000. However, because of his flawed decisions and the successful challenges to them, the actual disposal costs were at least 10 times this amount. Additionally, the disposal process took more than 6 years.