Many of Akaroa’s commercial premises differ from its cottages and smaller houses only in being slightly larger and built hard against the street. The variation in street setbacks – from none to deep front gardens – helps make Akaroa’s streetscapes appealing.
This building was erected as a shop, in front of an earlier cottage, with a door opening directly onto the street. The cottage was probably built in the late 1870s and the shop in the following decade. John Haywood, who was listed in street directories around 1900 as a painter, bought the property in 1886. He may have added the shop to the front of the older cottage in that year or shortly afterwards. Haywood later became a borough councillor.
The shop he probably built became known in the late 20th century as the photographer’s studio after a short-lived business that occupied it. It later became a holiday home. The original cottage remains behind the building.
