Ngaio Marsh House is the heritage-listed home of Dame Ngaio Marsh, tucked away on a quiet hillside in Cashmere, Christchurch. It was here, for most of her life, that one of New Zealand's most famous cultural figures — an internationally acclaimed 'Queen of Crime' — wrote the crime novels that made her name, alongside her work as a theatre director and artist.
The house remains much as Dame Ngaio left it. Guided tours offer a rare, personal look into her private world: her living spaces, books, artworks and belongings, many of which are still owned by her family and cared for by the Trust. Visitors regularly remark that it feels as though she has just stepped out and will return to entertain them.
After her death in 1982 the house was saved by the community: a fundraising appeal, supported by a partial loan from the Christchurch City Council, allowed the newly formed Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust to purchase the property and open it to the public in November 1996. Today this small volunteer-run charitable trust continues to restore, preserve and share the house and garden, a Category 1 Historic Place.
Tours run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, last approximately 75 minutes and are led by trained volunteer guides. Group visits, tours at other times and a speaker service for clubs and events can be arranged by contacting the Trust, and tour gift vouchers and merchandise are available online.
On a quiet hillside in Cashmere, Christchurch, there is a house where — as the Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust cheerfully puts it — multiple bloody murders were concocted. All of them, thankfully, on paper. This was the home of Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982), the writer, theatre director and artist who became one of New Zealand's most famous cultural figures and an internationally acclaimed 'Queen of Crime'. She lived here for most of her life, and it was here that she wrote her acclaimed crime novels.
Today the heritage-listed house and garden are open to the public through guided tours run by the Ngaio Marsh House and Heritage Trust, a small volunteer-run charitable trust. It has become one of Christchurch's most-loved cultural attractions, praised by visitors and featured in rave reviews and articles everywhere from TripAdvisor and Google to The Spinoff and Stuff.
What strikes visitors first is the intimacy of the place. The house remains much as Dame Ngaio left it, and a tour feels less like a museum visit than a welcome into her private world. Her books, artworks and personal belongings sit where she kept them, and her living spaces hold the traces of a busy creative life on the page and in the theatre.
A good part of the collection remains in the ownership of Dame Ngaio's family, who continue to support the Trust in caring for these precious items. That tradition of kaitiakitanga — stewardship — from her whanau and the local community is, the Trust says, part of what makes Ngaio Marsh House so special.
Visitors agree. 'Fabulous, seems as though Ngaio just left and will return soon to entertain her visitors' is one typical reaction. Another calls it an 'amazing hidden gem of Christchurch'.
Tours run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, led by the Trust's trained volunteer guides, and take approximately 75 minutes. Booking is online and essential, as visits are by appointment only. Groups larger than ten should contact the Trust in advance, and private or group tours outside the usual days can sometimes be arranged.
The experience takes in the house and its hillside garden, with guides bringing Dame Ngaio's story vividly to life. 'This tour is an exceptional experience from start to finish,' one visitor wrote. 'Our group had two passionate and animated experts guiding us through Dame Ngaio Marsh's home and garden... an absolute highlight and must do while in Christchurch.'
If you can't make it in person, the guides can come to you: the Trust offers a speaker service, bringing the story of Dame Ngaio and her wonderful home to clubs, groups and events. Tour gift vouchers and Ngaio Marsh merchandise are also available online.
The house might easily have been lost. After Dame Ngaio's death in 1982, it was inherited by a cousin and rented out. A dedicated group of local people launched a fundraising appeal to buy it, and with community support — including a partial loan from the Christchurch City Council — the newly formed Trust purchased the property and opened it to the public in November 1996. It is now recognised as a Category 1 Historic Place.
That volunteer spirit still powers the place. Volunteers catalogue and archive the collection, tend the garden one morning a week, help with housekeeping, guide tours (with training provided) and organise events. The Trust's Strategic Plan for 2023–2028 sets out its kaupapa: that the home, works and memory of Ngaio Marsh are known, enjoyed and appreciated by present and future generations.
Ngaio Marsh House sits at 37 Valley Road on the Cashmere hillside in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Book online for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday tour, allow around 75 minutes, and come ready to hear one of the country's great creative stories told in the rooms where it happened. The Trust is proud to be one of the top-rated activities in Christchurch — and, as it fairly points out, surely one of the most unique.