Mātaatua Wharenui
Name of Building
Mātaatua Wharenui
Town or City, Country where the building was originally established
Whakatāne, New Zealand
Date the building was designed and/or first built
1875: Mātaatua Wharenui was built
1879: Relocated to display the building in multiple locations
2011: Returned to the place of its origin
Name of Architect, Builder, or Primary Patron Responsible
Builder: Ngāti Awa (tribe)
Culturally Specific Time Period
Late Victorian Period
Geo-Location
37°56'59"S 177°00'11"E
Materials
Wood
Size and/or Scale of Building
79 ft long, 41 ft wide, and 24 ft high
Architectural Type
Religious
Building Description
The building has a rectangular layout with a gable roof. At the front of the structure, there is a roofed porch-like area, with walls at the back and on the side, but only a small fence at the front. At the back of the porch, there is a door on the viewer’s left side, and a window on the right. Coming from the small fence in the front of the porch is a red beam that supports the roof, connecting to the roof at its peak. There are two sets of twin statues at opposing sides of the front facade, resembling somewhat of a totem pole with a large face below each statue. There are another two carvings that sit at either end of the supporting beam, one of a man (which is on the bottom) and one of a face (which sits at the top). The building is made of wood, with lots of brown colors, plenty of red accents along the borders and statues, and smaller details painted with white, black, and green. On the inside of the roof, there are squared off sections with raised beams decorated with white motifs. The outside of the roof is black in color. Along the inner side walls of the porch there also stands another four carved statues along each side and situated at the end of each of the raised beams from the roof.
The building had played a religious purpose as a meeting ground for the Ngāti Awa tribe. The large roof provides shade for the porch, and the wood in which this structure was made was easily accessible. This building provokes a ritual movement as a sensory experience.
The building had played a religious purpose as a meeting ground for the Ngāti Awa tribe. The large roof provides shade for the porch, and the wood in which this structure was made was easily accessible. This building provokes a ritual movement as a sensory experience.
Image source
Image 1: mataatua-wharenui-5.jpg (https://wanderlusters.com/mataatua-wharenui-the-house-that-came-home/)
Image 2: British Empire Exhibition, Wembley Stadium, 23 April 1924 (16963240130).jpg (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/British_Empire_Exhibition%2C_Wembley_Stadium%2C_23_April_1924_%2816963240130%29.jpg)
Creative Commons or other copyright information
Image 1: N/A
Image 2: Creative Commons
Student First and Last Name
Hannah Demory
Bibliographic references for the item
https://wanderlusters.com/mataatua-wharenui-the-house-that-came-home/
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g652408-d2724411-Reviews-Mataatua_The_House_That_Came_Home-Whakatane_Bay_of_Plenty_Region_North_Island.html
http://maorilifestyles.blogspot.com/2011/08/house-that-came-home.html
Collection
Citation
Builder: Ngāti Awa (tribe), “Mātaatua Wharenui,” World Architecture, accessed June 28, 2026, https://www.worldarchitecture.artinterp2.org/items/show/7.
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