Life at the Rotherham House in the 1950s and 1960s

Guides to oral history acknowledge the value of this research methodology in enriching published records with memory and personal perceptions, thoughts, feelings and insights. This paper uses oral history to enrich the published record of one of New Zealand's best modern houses - the Rotherham House in the Auckland suburb of Stanley Bay. Bruce Rotherham designed and, with others from the Group Construction Company/Group Architects, built it in 1950-51. He then left the Group in 1952 and left New Zealand in 1955, never to live there again. The house comprises a double-height volume with a brick stair column leading to a mezzanine bedroom without balustrades or handrails, just a floor upturned at the sides. Published records focus on the radical ("experimental") nature of the design. Scholarly attentionhas alsobeengiventothedeathof amanthere in1962: LeonLesnie fell from the mezzanine, having been caught in bed with his lover, by her husband. This paper uses oral history to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the house, particularly its ownership, occupancy and use during the 1950s and 1960s. It presents the recollections of Jeremy Rotherham - son of Bruce - who lived in the house with his mother, Elizabeth, and sister, Ann, on and off until he was fourteen, when hismother sold it. In relating Jeremy's recollections of his childhood home, the paper activates and animates the building and shifts its reputation and associations fromdeath to life. It also reflects onmethodology and the specifics of the interviewerinterviewee relationship: Jeremy is my partner; I am entangled in the Rotherham House story. My telling of it does not followthe recommended oral history approach of ethics approval, formal interviews and transcription. Rather, it draws from multiple unplanned conversations and the spontaneous sharing of memory.