The house and former stables at 25-27 Princes Street, Auckland reflects elite residential activity linked with the medical profession, and is one of a significant group of properties linked with the creation and development of a well-to-do neighbourhood from the 1870s and 1880s. Located on the Symonds Street ridge, the site incorporates a brick stables constructed in 1883, and a two-storey brick residence whose surviving elements date to pre-1908 and 1934. These were erected on top of the remains of the Albert Barracks, the largest military installation in colonial New Zealand. Itself erected in the 1840s on the possible site of an earlier Maori settlement known as Horotiu, the fortification was decommissioned following the final withdrawal of British troops in 1870, after which much of the land was subdivided for private lease. The choicest allotments lay on the western side of Princes Street, next to the planned location of Albert Park. The redevelopment was consciously planned as an elite neighbourhood, being located next to places of high social status such as the Colonial Governor's Auckland residence (Old Government House), the Supreme Court (now the High Court) and one of the main cultural venues in the city (Old Choral Hall). Conditions were placed on the construction of all new residences, requiring that they should be of at least two storeys and cost a minimum of £700.
No visible remains survive of the first house on the site, a large timber residence built for brewer Thomas Whitson (1845?-1881) in 1877. However, a distinctive brick stables erected by his successor, Dr Charles Haines, in 1883 still exists in the northwest corner of the property. This was accessed from a service lane at the rear of the site. Of L-shaped construction with a gabled roof and polychrome décor, the stables appear to have had room for at least six horses and two carriages at ground floor level, with tack in a separate room and fodder above. Haines was a significant individual in the neighbourhood, acting as a personal physician to wealthy neighbours and occupying office as president of the elite Northern Club in Princes Street on more than one occasion. His brother, Humphrey, who also temporarily lived on the property, is said to have been a noted ear, nose and throat surgeon. Brick additions made to the residence prior to 1908 may have incorporated a specialist consulting room and surgery. This accommodation was of superior, ornate construction.
By the 1930s, the nature of the neighbourhood had changed, although it retained its genteel reputation. It was increasingly dominated by medical practitioners and by the expansion of Auckland University College (now the University of Auckland). Demonstrating its intellectual leadership, the University College engaged a noted architect, American Roy Lippincott, to design several of its new educational facilities in the 1920s and 1930s, including the groundbreaking Arts and Commerce Faculty building (now often known as the Old Arts Building or Clock Tower). In 1934, the president of the University College, Kenneth Mackenzie commissioned Lippincott and partner Martin Hutchison to design a private residence for himself on the site of Whitson and Haines' villa, almost immediately opposite the Arts building. After the relocation of Whitson's timber villa, a large new element was grafted on to the pre-1908 brick remainder in what has been described as 'a remarkably harmonious and elegant whole'. The distinctive new building is considered to have drawn on a variety of American influences, including Spanish Mission, Chicago School and the Prairie ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright. Also a professional surgeon, Mackenzie may have practiced from the house.
Both the main residence and stables were used for medical purposes until the second half of the twentieth century, and both buildings were saved from demolition in the early 1970s. However, the 1877 Whitson structure - retained on the same site as the stables until that time - was destroyed. The stables is currently (2007) used as an art gallery and writer's residence. The main house is used as a language school.
The former house and stable are considered to have aesthetic value for their setting, elegant appearance and detailing. The site is considered to have archaeological value, incorporating evidence for remains connected with the Albert Barracks and other deposits linked to residential urban occupation. The main residence is architecturally significant as a design by Roy Lippincott. The stables is a rare and well-preserved example of a domestic stables in central Auckland. The place has historical value for its associations with the development of elite urban neighbourhoods and medical practice, retaining this association for nearly a century. It is a significant part of an outstandingly important cultural and historical landscape on the Symonds Street ridge that retains numerous archaeological sites, historic buildings and other places linked to its role as the epicentre of early British colonial power in New Zealand and a subsequent residential neighbourhood of note. The immediate area includes other works by Roy Lippincott.
No visible remains survive of the first house on the site, a large timber residence built for brewer Thomas Whitson (1845?-1881) in 1877. However, a distinctive brick stables erected by his successor, Dr Charles Haines, in 1883 still exists in the northwest corner of the property. This was accessed from a service lane at the rear of the site. Of L-shaped construction with a gabled roof and polychrome décor, the stables appear to have had room for at least six horses and two carriages at ground floor level, with tack in a separate room and fodder above. Haines was a significant individual in the neighbourhood, acting as a personal physician to wealthy neighbours and occupying office as president of the elite Northern Club in Princes Street on more than one occasion. His brother, Humphrey, who also temporarily lived on the property, is said to have been a noted ear, nose and throat surgeon. Brick additions made to the residence prior to 1908 may have incorporated a specialist consulting room and surgery. This accommodation was of superior, ornate construction.
By the 1930s, the nature of the neighbourhood had changed, although it retained its genteel reputation. It was increasingly dominated by medical practitioners and by the expansion of Auckland University College (now the University of Auckland). Demonstrating its intellectual leadership, the University College engaged a noted architect, American Roy Lippincott, to design several of its new educational facilities in the 1920s and 1930s, including the groundbreaking Arts and Commerce Faculty building (now often known as the Old Arts Building or Clock Tower). In 1934, the president of the University College, Kenneth Mackenzie commissioned Lippincott and partner Martin Hutchison to design a private residence for himself on the site of Whitson and Haines' villa, almost immediately opposite the Arts building. After the relocation of Whitson's timber villa, a large new element was grafted on to the pre-1908 brick remainder in what has been described as 'a remarkably harmonious and elegant whole'. The distinctive new building is considered to have drawn on a variety of American influences, including Spanish Mission, Chicago School and the Prairie ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright. Also a professional surgeon, Mackenzie may have practiced from the house.
Both the main residence and stables were used for medical purposes until the second half of the twentieth century, and both buildings were saved from demolition in the early 1970s. However, the 1877 Whitson structure - retained on the same site as the stables until that time - was destroyed. The stables is currently (2007) used as an art gallery and writer's residence. The main house is used as a language school.
The former house and stable are considered to have aesthetic value for their setting, elegant appearance and detailing. The site is considered to have archaeological value, incorporating evidence for remains connected with the Albert Barracks and other deposits linked to residential urban occupation. The main residence is architecturally significant as a design by Roy Lippincott. The stables is a rare and well-preserved example of a domestic stables in central Auckland. The place has historical value for its associations with the development of elite urban neighbourhoods and medical practice, retaining this association for nearly a century. It is a significant part of an outstandingly important cultural and historical landscape on the Symonds Street ridge that retains numerous archaeological sites, historic buildings and other places linked to its role as the epicentre of early British colonial power in New Zealand and a subsequent residential neighbourhood of note. The immediate area includes other works by Roy Lippincott.
