Hillsborough, Auckland

Suburb:	Hillsborough
City:	Auckland
Island:	North Island
Surrounded by - to the north - to the north-east - to the east - to the south - to the west - to the north-west	Three Kings Royal Oak Onehunga Manukau Harbour Waikowhai Mount Roskill

Hillsborough is an Auckland 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, Marist College and St Peter's College.

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 buildings in the area are The Pah and its managers house. 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 it's 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 role of the house is currently undecided, with suggestions of it being used as an Art Gallery, Museum or Community Centre being considered by the Council. 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.

*"Gloss" (1987) [NZ TV-Series 1987-1990]

* (2005)

* (2004) (TV)

*Lucy (2003) (TV)

References

Colonial Architecture In New Zealand. John Stacpoole. A.H & A.W. Reed 1976.

IMDB.com