Burrows House

4 Burrows Avenue, Parnell, AUCKLAND

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Located on the north-facing slopes of Auckland’s, Parnell, Burrows House was built in the 1860s or early 1870s and is believed to have been commissioned by Charles Hulme, the only son of Colonel William Hulme an early owner of Hulme Court. The two-storey Regency-influenced timber residence with valance verandahs is one of a number of surviving nineteenth-century buildings in Parnell, a suburb with the largest concentration of early colonial houses in the city of Auckland. The Parnell locality was used by Maori for food gathering and other purposes before European arrival. Following the foundation of colonial Auckland in 1840, Parnell developed as a separate settlement and prestigious residential location. Burrows House was erected on part of a Crown Grant acquired in 1851 by Colonel William Hulme (1788-1855) the Commander of British Troops in New Zealand. The St Stephens Road holding was leased by Robert Chisholm in 1863 and by Anglican clergyman the Reverend Robert Burrows after 1868. Possibly the second or third dwelling constructed on the estate, Burrows House may have been built in 1869-70 as the marital home of Charles Hulme and his wife Helena (nee Burrows). The two-storey English colonial style residence incorporated an entrance hall and four sizable rooms downstairs, and four bedrooms upstairs. A single-storey outbuilding housing kitchen and service functions may have been a pre-existing structure. Following subdivision of the estate in the 1870s, the house was bought in 1878 by retired civil servant and Land Court Judge, William Bertram White of Mangonui, commencing the White family’s six-decade association with the residence. To facilitate further subdivision, the outbuilding was relocated in 1939, a kitchen and bathroom having been developed within the house. Changing hands in 1941, the residence was converted into flats but was refurbished in the 1970s by new owners who developed the formal garden. The outbuilding became part of a self-contained flat in the 1980s. The internal layout of the house was also altered at this time. Burrows House retains its well-preserved external appearance and remains in use as a private residence. Burrows House has aesthetic value for its simple, well-preserved symmetrical form, prominent valance verandahs, brick chimneys and pleasant garden setting. It has architectural significance as a nineteenth-century English colonial suburban residence with medium-pitch roof, single-storey verandahs, louvered window shutters, Regency-style staircase and a surviving nineteenth-century outbuilding. The place has historical significance for its association with Parnell’s nineteenth-century development, a settlement favoured as a place of residence by many of Auckland’s colonial administrators and those linked with the founding of Anglican Church administration in New Zealand, and for its strong association with retired Mangonui civil servant and Land Court Judge William Bertram White. The place has social significance for reflecting close social networks among Parnell families in the nineteenth-century, namely the Burrows and the Hulmes; and the Lushes and the Whites.

Burrows House June 1986. Image courtesy of 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 435-B5-175' | Unknown | Auckland Libraries
Burrows House. Image courtesy of ‘Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 435-B5-175A' | Auckland City Council | Auckland Libraries
Burrows House. Image courtesy of ‘Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1052-H6-20 | Auckland City Council | Auckland Libraries

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

596

Date Entered

6th June 2011

Date of Effect

6th June 2011

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Lot 2 DP 28969 and Lot 2 DP 72341 (RT NA42B/884), North Auckland Land District and the buildings and structures known as Burrows House thereon, and their fittings and fixtures. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the registration report for further information).

Legal description

Lot 2 DP 28969 and Lot 2 DP 72341 (RT NA42B/884), North Auckland Land District

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