Highwic
Highwic | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Historic house museum |
Architectural style | Carpenter Gothic |
Address | 40 Gillies Avenue, Epsom (off Mortimer Pass Newmarket) |
Country | New Zealand |
Coordinates | 36°52′18″S 174°46′30″E / 36.8718°S 174.7749°E |
Opened | 1981 |
Designated | 7 April 1983 |
Reference no. | 18 |
Highwic is a 19th-century house in
Origin and construction
Highwic is a large house of Carpenter Gothic design that was built for a wealthy colonial settler and landowner, Alfred Buckland. The building was erected in an elevated position looking out over the township of Newmarket. In 1861, the land was purchased by Alfred's first wife Eliza for £1,000. The family with seven children, moved into the house in 1862. Eliza Buckland had two more children during her short time alive in her new house, she died of pneumonia in July 1866. The original eight room house was extended in 1874, 1883 and 1884 as the Buckland family grew bigger and their wealth increased.[1]
Alfred Buckland married Matilda Jane Frodsham in May 1867. Matilda was twenty years younger than Alfred and went on to have eleven children of her own, nine of them surviving to adulthood. Matilda outlived Alfred, spending her declining years at Highiwc.
The building included a Drawing Room, several bedrooms, a boy's dormitory, a laundry, kitchen, scullery, outside stables, grooms accommodation, a billiard house, and a service yard. By the early 20th century two inside bathrooms were added with baths, hand basins, flushing toilets and hot and cold water on tap. Family descendants who lived in the house until 1978 made alterations of their own. The property was then jointly purchased by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) and Auckland City Council to save the site from subdivision.[1] Highwic was opened as a historic house museum in 1981.[2]
Functions and celebrations
A reception for the Duke of Kent and Katharine, Duchess of Kent was held at Highwic in 1980. There was also a ball to aid the New Zealand Blood Foundation in 1982. The ball generated a substantial article in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly magazine.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
In 1985, an exhibition known as "
150th anniversary
In 2012, year-long celebrations were planned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the building including high tea at the house, seeing a collection of Victorian era costumes and floral arrangements as part of the Festival of Flowers plus music and arts.[3] That year, Highwic became the main attraction of several Auckland Heritage Festival events.[4] The concert A Song Without Words celebrated the work of students of Felix Mendelssohn in the ballroom.[5]
Filming
The building has been used in filming for music acts such as
Claimed hauntings
Highwic is considered to be one of the most haunted places in Auckland as there have been claimed sightings of a ghost in a bedroom.[7] It is also said to be the home to a ghostly canine. A former spokeswoman claimed that a black dog has been seen running across the garden to the property's boundary.[8]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-908577-32-X. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Highwic". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ "Highwic celebrates 150th anniversary". Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "Highwic to come under close scrutiny". Scoop. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "Song Without Words at Highwic". Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ "Highwic's life in films". Stuff. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ Ghost hunters in for the chill
- ^ Mathers, Joanna (18 May 2012). "Haunted by the memory of these visits". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
External links
Media related to Highwic at Wikimedia Commons