Golder's House

707 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt

  • Golder's House, Upper Hutt. CC Licence 3.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
    Copyright: Rudolph89 - Wikimedia Commons. Taken By: Rudolph89. Date: 28/04/2012.
  • Golder's House, Upper Hutt. Rear CC Licence 3.0 Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.
    Copyright: Rudolph89 - Wikimedia Commons. Taken By: Rudolph89. Date: 28/04/2012.
  • Golder's House, Upper Hutt c.1880 John and Jane Golder with their 2 young sons in front of the cotttage. CC Licence 3.0 Image courtesy of the Upper Hutt City Library - Heritage Collection. Part of Murray Maxwell Collection.
    Copyright: Upper Hutt City Library.

List Entry Information

List Entry Status Listed List Entry Type Historic Place Category 2 Public Access Able to Visit
List Number 2891 Date Entered 12th December 1991 Date of Effect 12th December 1991

Locationopen/close

City/District Council

Upper Hutt City

 Region

Wellington Region
Legal description

Lot 1 DP 12614

Summaryopen/close

Originally a single-gable, plain weatherboard cottage, Golder's House and associated outbuildings provide valuable insight into colonial domestic life. The house was built in 1876-1877 by John Golder (1849-1902). Golder was a road builder for the Wellington Provincial Council and, later, for the Hutt County Council, where he eventually rose to prominence. He married Jane Martin in 1877 and together they raised 12 children. The additions to the house in 1880, 1900 and 1920 reflect the growing size of the Golder family. The property also contains a hen house, laundry, toilet, dairy, water pump, and foodstore (also registered as a Historic Place, Category II). The property remained in the family until 1985 when the house and associated outbuildings were acquired by the Upper Hutt City Council. In 1987 the Golder's Homestead Museum Society took over the management of the property. The society carried out restoration work and now runs the house as a museum.

Golder's House was owned by the same family for over one hundred years. It, and its associated outbuildings, provide a rare insight into the life of families living in late nineteenth-century and twentieth-century New Zealand.

Linksopen/close

Additional informationopen/close

Construction Dates

Original Construction
1876 - 1877

Addition
1880 -

Addition
1900 -

Addition
1920 -

Completion Date

24th August 2001

Report Written By

Helen McCracken

Information Sources

Kelleher, 1991

J. A. Kelleher, Upper Hutt: the history, Upper Hutt, 1991

New Zealand Historic Places

New Zealand Historic Places

Christopher Moor, 'Cottage Museum', March 1996, pp.25-26

Other Information

Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.