Historic Chapman-Taylor’s Burger Wellington

Chapman-Taylor’s Cafe & Inn boasts a burger this month called ‘Ayam What I Am’. It features chicken thigh in Rica Rica sauce, with salads, pickled cucumber, coriander and Sriracha aioli in a brioche bun, served with fries and spicy sambal. The vegetarian alternative replaces the chicken with tempura tempeh.

The delicious Ayam What I Am burger from Chapman-Taylor's Cafe & Inn (vegetarian alternative), © Daniel McClymont

Chapman-Taylor’s Cafe & Inn was established in 2023 in its restored state as an English pub – however, it was originally built in 1912 by renowned New Zealand architect James Walter Chapman-Taylor (1878-1958) and known as ‘Home Crafts’.

Home Crafts, © Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

Home Crafts is on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero as a Category 1 Historic Place – see List No. 1411. The information below is from the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero entry and has been gratefully reproduced with the express permission of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Chapman-Taylor was known for his quality Arts and Crafts designs and hand-crafted interiors. He designed this building early in his career, in 1911, as his office, workshop and retail showroom. Home Crafts is of special architectural and historical significance for the light it sheds on the development of his career and design philosophies.

It is the only example of Chapman-Taylor’s work where he adapted a domestic design for commercial use. It was one of a number completed between 1909 and 1913, an important period when he developed his principles on building design.

Chapman-Taylor was influenced by the ideas of the British Arts and Crafts movement, which promoted a return to the traditional English cottage style, with interior features of crafted timber work, whitewashed walls, large, exposed beams and lintels, multi-paned windows and hand-crafted fittings. He adapted the principles of the movement to suit New Zealand clients and conditions, and his architecture remained popular.

Home Crafts is two-storeyed, with a mezzanine landing. It was built in cavity brick, concrete floors and jarrah timber beams. The exterior walls were whitewashed, with some exposed timber surfaces and it has a Marseille tiled roof. The showroom was on the ground floor, as was Chapman-Taylor’s office.

Mezzanine back room of the ground floor (the 1952 extension), © Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga

The interior included a large brick inglenook fireplace at the rear of the room, a characteristic Chapman-Taylor feature. A motto is carved on the lintel of the front door and another on the inglenook beam. A workshop at the back of the building opened onto a timber yard and delivery lane. Chapman-Taylor modified the top floor in 1914 to provide city accommodation for the family, where they lived until 1917.

The wooden beam over the fireplace has the motto ‘Not all of me shall die’ carved on it. Chapman-Taylor's son Rex recalled that his father enjoyed etching quotes in wood and had seen examples in England, © Daniel McClymont

The building is also on Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s Rainbow List, as well-known performance artist, nightclub owner, and member of Wellington’s homosexual community Theodore Trezise (1882-1977) bought it in 1922. Trezise trained in opera and musical comedy in London and served as a field engineer during the First World War.

Trezise returned to Wellington in late 1918 and worked as a dance instructor, opened a nightclub in Thorndon and appeared in many shows and operas, becoming a ‘minor celebrity’ in the words of historian Chris Brickell. He lived at Home Crafts, possibly with his mother, until 1927, when he moved to Auckland, and subsequently rented it out before selling in 1948.

Wayside Automatic Laundries Ltd owned the building and operated from the site from 1951 until the 1970s. The ground floor subsequently housed a succession of restaurants, and the upper floors were office space used by small businesses.

In 2021-22, the entire building was converted into a multi-level hospitality venue, which opened as Chapman-Taylor’s Cafe & Inn in 2023. The building has been sympathetically restored, with the architect’s life and work embraced as the venue’s identity.

The walls of Chapman-Taylor's Cafe & Inn are dotted with portraits and quotes from Chapman-Taylor, and interpretation to convey the history of the building and its iconic architect, © Daniel McClymont

The sous vide chicken Ayam What I Am burger from Chapman-Taylor's Cafe & Inn, © Daniel McClymont

Wellington Heritage Festival would highly recommend adding the Ayam What I Am burger from Chapman-Taylor's Cafe & Inn to your August burger agenda and/or spreadsheet.

If you’re interested in learning more about Chapman-Taylor himself, Judy Siers' biography, The Life and Times of James Walter Chapman-Taylor, is an authoritative and fascinating account, and the result of 30 years of research.

When you visit Chapman-Taylor's Cafe & Inn, take some time to read the interpretation on site, and explore the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero entry to learn more about the history of this fascinating Category 1 Historic Place.