Hulme Court. Photo / Paul Estcourt.
350 Parnell Rd, Parnell
Valuation: $4.12m
Tucked discreetly between Parnell Rd and St Georges Bay Rd, in Parnell village, is a special home that has stood since the days when this now-gentrified suburb was a frontier of colonial Auckland.
Built in 1843, Hulme Court is Auckland's oldest home still standing on its original site. "Younger" former
residences such as Ewelme Cottage, Highwic and Alberton are now museums managed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, but Hulme Court has always been a private home.
It is not known who designed the Regency-style, rendered bluestone home, built for Sir Frederick Whitaker (later Premier of New Zealand).
Conservation architect Adam Wild says there's been speculation that an engineer business partner of Whitaker's could have designed it, but there's no solid proof.
"The research hasn't been done on the architect or the builder, but it would have been a significant house when it was built. Auckland in those days was a place of tents and rickety wooden buildings. Queen St was an open sewer to the harbour."
Hulme Court is positioned for the sun, with elegant, shady verandas on three sides. Beautifully proportioned tall sash windows, still flanked by original shutters, can be opened to allow for indoor-outdoor flow. From the front door you have a great sightline to Auckland Museum. The view from north-facing rooms looks over the port to the harbour.
Mr Wild describes Hulme Court as "eminently successful as it has survived for so long, with so little changed".
