Kiwi Front Fences Say "Kia Ora" to the World
Here's how we welcome friends and family to our place
New Zealand was once dubbed the ‘Quarter Acre Paradise’ – a gentle mockery of our love of hearth and home, our pride in our leafy suburbia and garden spreads. The suburbs may have gotten denser, the houses a lot more modern, but here’s how we still say “kia ora” to folks over the front fence.
As villas got bigger and grander in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, smarter homeowners added stone or concrete pillars between the pickets and transitioned to squared-off tops.
Railings in clever saw-tooth patterns were light enough to allow views through to the street. Balls, acorns and other clever decorations embellished posts.
Railings in clever saw-tooth patterns were light enough to allow views through to the street. Balls, acorns and other clever decorations embellished posts.
Capped wooden posts, and gently curving gates are timeless classics.
Crafty arts
Bungalows with Arts and Crafts detailing were still being built into the 1940s. Auckland, built on 48 volcanoes, has plenty of scoria rock for the iconic walls, which dot the hill-side suburbs.
Bungalows with Arts and Crafts detailing were still being built into the 1940s. Auckland, built on 48 volcanoes, has plenty of scoria rock for the iconic walls, which dot the hill-side suburbs.
Keep it in the family
High walls have spread from the exclusive preserve of the rich to everyday neighbourhoods. Some are intentionally foreboding, but here the designer has created a welcoming break in the stepped fence, with a wide path and gate that appears framed by the house’s curved porch of this 1950s renovation.
High walls have spread from the exclusive preserve of the rich to everyday neighbourhoods. Some are intentionally foreboding, but here the designer has created a welcoming break in the stepped fence, with a wide path and gate that appears framed by the house’s curved porch of this 1950s renovation.
Sunny side up
Kiwis chase the sun, all year round. When the front of the house is the best spot for sun (north facing) and spreads into outdoor living, landscapers solve the problem of regulations for high swimming pool fences by inserting a wide bed of grasses, trimmed mop top robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Umbraculifera’), to soften the edges at streetscape.
Kiwis chase the sun, all year round. When the front of the house is the best spot for sun (north facing) and spreads into outdoor living, landscapers solve the problem of regulations for high swimming pool fences by inserting a wide bed of grasses, trimmed mop top robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Umbraculifera’), to soften the edges at streetscape.
Sixties suburbia
The cities spread quickly to the suburban dream, as people abandoned inner city villas and bungalows, and took to their cars. Front paths often merged with the driveway. Today, we are reinstating pedestrian frontages, as here the Garden Mentors reinstated a Tauranga front ‘fence’ with crisply clipped hedges and planting.
The cities spread quickly to the suburban dream, as people abandoned inner city villas and bungalows, and took to their cars. Front paths often merged with the driveway. Today, we are reinstating pedestrian frontages, as here the Garden Mentors reinstated a Tauranga front ‘fence’ with crisply clipped hedges and planting.
The same designer used more traditional-coloured borders and common box (Buxus sempervirens), to complement the colonial style popular in the 1970s.
Seventies peek-a-boo
Trellis fences were all the rage in the 1970s and ’80s, as suburban lots began to get smaller. They were popular with rose gardeners, when a glorious display could tumble on to the street from October right through until May in warmer climates.
Trellis fences were all the rage in the 1970s and ’80s, as suburban lots began to get smaller. They were popular with rose gardeners, when a glorious display could tumble on to the street from October right through until May in warmer climates.
Or front fences were still disappearing, replaced by Japanese-style rockeries, with low-maintenance shrubs instead of pickets to paint.
Peek-a-boo modern
Borrowing a leaf from the ’70s, architects are paying homage. Fences are as thoughtfully considered as the main house. View the rest of the house to see how the mix of stained wood and raw concrete, hinted at in the fence, is continued through the rest of the property.
Borrowing a leaf from the ’70s, architects are paying homage. Fences are as thoughtfully considered as the main house. View the rest of the house to see how the mix of stained wood and raw concrete, hinted at in the fence, is continued through the rest of the property.
On the driveway of the house, the fences layer back, allowing inserts for planting, steps and lighting. Shadows and plays of light are welcoming, not forbidding to the street.
Architect Andrew Meiring dispenses with the fence right on the street, instead pushing the fence right back to the line of the house and using rugged planting and stepping stones to draw visitors to the front door.
Dunedin architects McCoy Wixon make the same play, but insert a row of chunky posts to simply suggest privacy, rather than a fierce brick wall.
For more privacy, Metal Magic laser cut native plants into Corten steel: art for the whole street to enjoy.
Step right up
Creative Arch integrate a solid plaster fence with steps, for a friendly transition for visitors from the street up to the front door. Creeping plants and lighting soften the effect of a solid wall.
Creative Arch integrate a solid plaster fence with steps, for a friendly transition for visitors from the street up to the front door. Creeping plants and lighting soften the effect of a solid wall.
Landscape architects tackle the problem differently. Here Veronica Alkema uses a dark-stained wood fence and gate to create a sense of mystery, enticing visitors down the gravel path, between the natural arches created by the trees, to explore the rest of this Wellington garden.
Steep sloping sites force Wellington designers to be creative with their fences. Builder AJ Oaks turned the fence into a stair balustrade from the street-side parking pad to the house.
Art speak
Cottage garden lovers use recycled wood, crafted rusty steel and planting to say hello and welcome.
Cottage garden lovers use recycled wood, crafted rusty steel and planting to say hello and welcome.
The most striking fence in the country is this one in Christchurch, right opposite the Arts Centre, and survived the earthquake. It starts from a sculpture, Inner Struggle, by Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor, the words flying out of an open book and circling the front yard of the Dyslexia Foundation’s villa.
Architect Hayden Elmslie designed the Discovery Centre and garden, and Morgan and Pollard Landscapes won the top prize at the 2008 Landscaping New Zealand Awards.
Country comfort
Most farms are separated from the roads by posts and number 8 wire. But smart, big country spreads demand post and rail fencing to keep the horses in and admirers out.
Most farms are separated from the roads by posts and number 8 wire. But smart, big country spreads demand post and rail fencing to keep the horses in and admirers out.
Brand new estates tend to the shiny new wood and a significant set of gate posts.
Seaside retreat
But at the coast – at least where there are real Kiwi beaches, not urban mansions – nobody bothers with a fence. Sand dunes and tussock blend with the garden for easy barefoot running between houses.
But at the coast – at least where there are real Kiwi beaches, not urban mansions – nobody bothers with a fence. Sand dunes and tussock blend with the garden for easy barefoot running between houses.
If sand needs to be kept out of the garden, weathered Macrocarpa sleepers create a bit of windbreak and structure in the garden. No fences needed.
TELL US
Which do you prefer, a big wall or an open fence at your front boundary?
MORE
6 Practical Fencing Ideas you Haven’t Thought of Yet
How to Bring your Front Fence Back to Life
Everybody Needs Good Neighbours: 10 Ways to Keep the Peace
TELL US
Which do you prefer, a big wall or an open fence at your front boundary?
MORE
6 Practical Fencing Ideas you Haven’t Thought of Yet
How to Bring your Front Fence Back to Life
Everybody Needs Good Neighbours: 10 Ways to Keep the Peace
The earliest surviving New Zealand houses (from the 1840s) had French-style verandahs. Then, a picket fence was to keep chickens in and marauding native birds out.
The surviving Victorian neighbourhoods in every city have a row of pretty pickets to mark off the street-edge, sometimes mandated by heritage protection.