Hillsborough, Auckland
Encyclopedia
Hillsborough is an Auckland
, New Zealand suburb
.
Hillsborough is under the local governance of the Auckland City Council. According to the 2001 census, Hillsborough has a population of 9912.
Hillsborough is a leafy suburb of nice but largely unremarkable 20th century houses. The area is serviced by two shopping areas; Onehunga
and Three Kings
. The area is served by several good State secondary schools including Mount Albert Grammar School
, Marcellin College
, Marist College
and St Peter's College
.
The most interesting building in the area is Pah Homestead
(or The Pah). This building was constructed for James Williamson by Thomas Mahoney in 1877. Of plastered brick in the Italianate style it is based upon Queen Victoria & Prince Albert's house Osbourne House in the Isle of Wight
. It was allegedly the largest house ever built in New Zealand and certainly one of the most expensive.
The hill where the house was built had all the appearances of being the site of a Māori fortified Hill Pā
. The prospect of building his family residence on such a site apparently appealed to Williamson resulting in the choice of the name The Pah. Subsequent investigations of the site have shown that what appeared to be the remains of human modification of the hill; terraces, storage pits and fortified bulwarks, are in fact natural features, and that Māori had never occupied the site.
Williamson had dreamed of creating a family dynasty with this estate as its symbol, however following the stock market crash in 1886 Williamson was forced to sell this property which was subsequently divided up for development. The Farm Managers house, was built in a similar style. This two storied neo-classical masonry house stands in nearby Warren Avenue separated from the main house by the many houses of the area. The area maintains part of its original farmland image as large tracts of land were purchased by various institutions; several Roman Catholic schools, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and the Masonic Retirement Village.
The Pah was eventually purchased by the Roman Catholic Church in 1913 and renamed Monte Cecilia, Part of the remaining land close to the house was developed as a school and the house itself was used as emergency housing for many years. The Auckland City Council
recently purchased the property. Its magnificent grounds contain a number of interesting specimen trees and is now part of a public park named Monte Cecilia Park. The house is now being used to display James Wallace's extesive collection of New Zealand Modern art. http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/projects/montececilia/default.asp
Over the years the house and its grounds have been used as the shooting locations in a number of television and film productions.
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
.
Hillsborough is under the local governance of the Auckland City Council. According to the 2001 census, Hillsborough has a population of 9912.
Hillsborough is a leafy suburb of nice but largely unremarkable 20th century houses. The area is serviced by two shopping areas; Onehunga
Onehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is eight kilometres south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie....
and Three Kings
Three Kings, New Zealand
Three Kings refers to both a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, and the three-peaked volcano that it is named after. Three Kings should not be confused with the Three Kings Islands, located off the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island.- Suburb :...
. The area is served by several good State secondary schools including Mount Albert Grammar School
Mount Albert Grammar School
Mount Albert Grammar School, or MAGS, is a co-educational secondary school in Central Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches from year 9 to year 13. Mount Albert Grammar is one of the largest secondary schools in the country...
, Marcellin College
Marcellin College
Marcellin College is a Marist Catholic secondary boys' school situated in Bulleen, Victoria, Australia.The school was founded in 1950 by the Marist Brothers originally in Camberwell...
, Marist College
Marist College, New Zealand
Marist College is a Catholic girls high-school located in Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches from year 7 through to Year 13 with a curriculum based on Roman Catholicism...
and St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Auckland
St Peter's College is a Catholic college for year 7 to 13 boys . The school, located in Auckland, is one of the largest Catholic schools in New Zealand and is an integrated school under an integration agreement entered into by the Catholic Bishop of Auckland and the Government of New Zealand in...
.
History of Hillsborough
Named for Auckland's first Postmaster James Carlton Hill who left land to the City for use as public domains in his 1858 will.The most interesting building in the area is Pah Homestead
Pah Homestead
The Pah Homestead is a historic stately home located in the Auckland suburb of Hillsborough in New Zealand. It is currently being restored by the Auckland City Council, which owns it, as part of its plans to develop the surrounding Monte Cecilia Park into a premier park for the city.-History:The...
(or The Pah). This building was constructed for James Williamson by Thomas Mahoney in 1877. Of plastered brick in the Italianate style it is based upon Queen Victoria & Prince Albert's house Osbourne House in the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. It was allegedly the largest house ever built in New Zealand and certainly one of the most expensive.
The hill where the house was built had all the appearances of being the site of a Māori fortified Hill Pā
Pa
-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...
. The prospect of building his family residence on such a site apparently appealed to Williamson resulting in the choice of the name The Pah. Subsequent investigations of the site have shown that what appeared to be the remains of human modification of the hill; terraces, storage pits and fortified bulwarks, are in fact natural features, and that Māori had never occupied the site.
Williamson had dreamed of creating a family dynasty with this estate as its symbol, however following the stock market crash in 1886 Williamson was forced to sell this property which was subsequently divided up for development. The Farm Managers house, was built in a similar style. This two storied neo-classical masonry house stands in nearby Warren Avenue separated from the main house by the many houses of the area. The area maintains part of its original farmland image as large tracts of land were purchased by various institutions; several Roman Catholic schools, the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and the Masonic Retirement Village.
The Pah was eventually purchased by the Roman Catholic Church in 1913 and renamed Monte Cecilia, Part of the remaining land close to the house was developed as a school and the house itself was used as emergency housing for many years. The Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority representing Auckland City, New Zealand, and was amalgamated into the Auckland Council on 1 November 2010. It was an elected body representing the 404,658 residents of the city...
recently purchased the property. Its magnificent grounds contain a number of interesting specimen trees and is now part of a public park named Monte Cecilia Park. The house is now being used to display James Wallace's extesive collection of New Zealand Modern art. http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/projects/montececilia/default.asp
Over the years the house and its grounds have been used as the shooting locations in a number of television and film productions.
- The Quiet Earth (film)The Quiet Earth (film)The Quiet Earth is a 1985 New Zealand science fiction post-apocalyptic film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge and Pete Smith as three survivors of a cataclysmic disaster. It is loosely based on the 1981 science fiction novel of the same name by Craig Harrison...
(1985) - GlossGloss (TV series)Gloss was a television drama series in New Zealand that screened from 1987-1990. The series was about a fictional publishing empire run by the Redfern family....
(1987) [NZ TV-Series 1987-1990] - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...
(2005) - Ike: Countdown to D-DayIke: Countdown to D-DayIke: Countdown to D-Day is a 2004 American television film originally aired on the American television channel A&E and was directed by Robert Harmon and written by Lionel Chetwynd....
(2004) (TV) - LucyLucy (film)Lucy is a 2003 television film directed by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball.-Plot:Lucy opens in 1960, at the filming of the final Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz Show...
(2003) (TV)