The Pah (Former)

64, 72, 72A Hillsborough Road; 40F Herd Road; 30 Korma Road; 19 Budock Road; 593-595, 615-615A Mount Albert Road, Hillsborough, AUCKLAND

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Located in Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough, Auckland, The Pah (Former) is a rare surviving example of a place which demonstrates the evolution of an early agricultural farm into a private designed landscape incorporating a well-preserved nineteenth-century homestead, stables and plantings. The place has outstanding aesthetic and architectural significance for its well-preserved two-storey Italianate residence with four-storey tower designed by Auckland architect Edward Mahoney, and archaeological significance associated with pre-European and colonial settlement. The place has outstanding significance for its strong historical and social associations with significant members of Auckland’s business elite including Thomas Russell and James Williamson, the earliest of a number of the owners or occupiers with strong Irish connections. Following a decade-long occupation by St John’s Collegiate School, who introduced The Whare dormitory onto the site, the Sisters of Mercy purchased The Pah in 1913. The property, bought by William Hart in 1844, was named The Pah after palisading from Whataroa Pa was uncovered during construction of the first farmhouse on the property in 1847. Specimens imported from Australia for development of the grounds are among nationally important trees surviving within Monte Cecilia Park a century and a half later. Some of these formed the basis of a designed picturesque landscape instigated by Thomas Russell in the late 1860s and augmented during the ownership of James Williamson who commissioned construction of the opulent home (1877-9) replacing the earlier homestead. Despite a century of institutional use prior to purchase by Auckland City Council in 2002 for the creation of an extensive park, the homestead has outstanding value for its original exterior form (including well-preserved servants’ wing) and little-altered interior. Ornate interior detailing includes curving window sashes in the former billiard and drawing rooms and tiled fireplaces with Italianate marble mantelpieces. Surviving fixtures include an oak dado, parquet flooring and a hall stand produced by prestigious London cabinetmakers Gillow and Co., and designed specifically for The Pah, the only residence in New Zealand known to have been furnished by the firm. The homestead is now the home of TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre and an outstanding collection of contemporary New Zealand art.

The Pah (Former) | Joan McKenzie | 18/11/2014 | Heritage New Zealand
The Pah (Former) | Martin Jones | 01/03/2009 | Heritage New Zealand
The Pah (Former) | Martin Jones | 01/03/2009 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

89

Date Entered

9th September 1983

Date of Effect

9th September 1983

City/District Council

Auckland Council

Region

Auckland Council

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Pt Lot 2 DP 380498 (RT 464736), Secs 1-2 SO 310206 (RTs 464734, 464735), Secs 1, 3 SO 70605 (RT 55092, NZ Gazette 2002, p.444), Sec 2 SO 70605 (RT 55093, Amendment to NZ Gazette 2002 p.444, p.2158), Lot 3 DP 32733, Lot 2 DP 192435 (RTs 129959, 110987), Lot 2 DP 399421 (RT 396545), Lot 2 DP 30874 (RT NA1087/50), Lots 3-4 DP 35089 (RTs NA902/226, NA902/225), and part of the land described as Lot 1 DP 380498 (RT 322339), North Auckland Land District, and the land, archaeological sites, buildings, and structures known as The Pah (Former) thereon. It includes the Stables and the building known as The Whare and the land beneath the structures known as the Monte Cecilia Primary School but excludes the school structures themselves other than The Whare. It includes the nineteenth-century planted landscape incorporating hedging and many hundreds of trees of a large and diverse range including key species holm oak (1840s to 1880s); Moreton Bay Fig (1840s to 1870s); Norfolk Island Pine (1840s to 1880s); puriri (1860s to 1880s); English oak (1860s); Lilly Pilly and Atlantic Cedar (1880s); Bunya Pine, and Norfolk Island Hibiscus (1840s); Queensland Kauri (1840s-1870s); two Turkey oak (1850s); a hoop pine, and a camphor laurel (1850s), a relatively small number of which have been specifically identified as notable trees in the district plan and unitary plan schedule. (Refer to the extent map tabled at the Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero Committee meeting on 8 October 2015.)

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 380498 (RT 322339), Pt Lot 2 DP 380498 (RT 464736), Secs 1-2 SO 310206 (RTs 464734, 464735), Secs 1, 3 SO 70605 (RT 55092, NZ Gazette 2002, p.444), Sec 2 SO 70605 (RT 55093, Amendment to NZ Gazette 2002 p.444, p.2158), Lot 3 DP 32733, Lot 2 DP 192435 (RTs 129959, 110987), Lot 2 DP 399421 (RT 396545), Lot 2 DP 30874 (RT NA1087/50), Lots 3-4 DP 35089 (RTs NA902/226, NA902/225), North Auckland Land District.

Location Description

The access off Hillsborough Road, known as Delargey Avenue (off which are Steins Avenue and Luck Crescent), is not legal road. The former stables building is located at the corner of Delargey Avenue and Luck Crescent. Hillsborough Road, Herd Road and Budock Roads are located in the suburb of Hillsborough. Korma Road and Mount Albert Road are located in the suburb of Royal Oak.

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