The property at 1 Kelmarna Avenue, Herne Bay on the corner of Jervois Road and Kelmarna Avenue is probably still best known to its many Auckland motorists as the site of The Gables Tavern, even though that business closed a number of years ago.
Dating back to the early 1970s, the tavern was the first pub to be built in this previously dry area. The building was designed to harmonise with the surrounding bay villas and so imitated their roof line, hence the name “The Gables”. The building covers only around half of the site, and a large block of bare land at the rear, accessed off Kelmarna Avenue, was used for customer parking.
Prior to The Gables being built, pubs had a bad reputation not helped by New Zealand’s six o’clock “swill” closing culture which prevailed until 1969. The Gables was intended to be a more civilized, new type of English-style neighbourhood establishment with outdoor facilities where family groups and friends could socialise along the lines of continental European beer gardens.
The Gables Tavern was popular for its quiz nights and as a performing venue for jazz musicians but changing tends in hospitality saw it become a Speight’s Ale House in 2010 before eventually closing in 2014 – a victim of the swing towards generally smaller beverage and food outlets in strip or laneway “cluster” locations such as Ponsonby Road.