Ewelme Cottage is a historic cottage in Parnell,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand that is listed as a Category I building by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

. Ewelme Cottage was built for Vicesimus Lush to serve as a home for his sons so they could attend an Anglican school whilst he was away on religious duties. It was purchased about a century later by the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

and is now managed by

Description

Ewelme Cottage is a one and a half storey Georgian cottage. The

groundplan Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

may have been planned by Lush with an architect in England in 1850. Lush may have been influenced by an idea prevalent in

Ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...

at the time which advocated for mediaeval architectural influence in contemporary buildings. The original building was Georgian in its external design but differed in the room layout compared to traditional front and backs of Georgian buildings. The cottage originally contained five rooms with two connected

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing structures open on one or more sides (colloquially referred to as lean-tos in spite of being unattac ...

s. The lean-tos likely held a

scullery A scullery is a room in a house, traditionally used for washing up dishes and laundering clothes, or as an overflow kitchen. Tasks performed in the scullery include cleaning dishes and cooking utensils (or storing them), occasional kitchen work, ...

and

woodshed A shed is typically a simple, single-storey (though some sheds may have two or more stories and or a loft) roofed structure, often used for storage, for hobbies, or as a workshop, and typically serving as outbuilding, such as in a back garde ...

. The interior and furnishings are well preserved from the 19th century, with original furniture and 2,000 books. The property has a 19th-century garden. Ewelme Cottage is named after the Ewelme Church in England.

History

The construction of Ewelme Cottage was commissioned by the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Howick, Vicesimus Lush. Parnell was the seat of the Anglican Bishop of New Zealand and the cottage enabled Lush's sons to attend the Church of England grammar school in Parnell whilst he attended to religious duties elsewhere. Ewelme Cottage was built between 1863 and 1864. Lush's family lived in the cottage until 1871 where they followed him to his new position as the vicar of

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. The building would see modifications in 1865, with the verandah enclosed to enlarge the house; an extension 1871, to add a rear kitchen and attic; and extensive alterations in 1882–1883. Following this however the building has remained largely the same with some minor modifications made in 1970–1971 to conserve the building. The Lush family would continue to own the property for over a century. In 1969 they sold the property to the

and is currently managed by

Hillside

Lush built a property in 1883 on the neighbouring lot which he named ''Hillside''.

Legacy

According to Heritage New Zealand the building is 'held in high public esteem'. An article in the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

called it the 'possibly most important of Auckland's

Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buil ...

properties'. Rumours around

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s inhabiting the property exist. Ewelme Cottage was used in the filming of

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical romance film written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin (in her first major acting role). The film focuses on a mute Sc ...

References

External links

{{Parnell, New Zealand Houses completed in 1864 Reportedly haunted locations in Auckland 1860s architecture in New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region Historic homes in New Zealand Parnell, New Zealand Historic house museums in New Zealand Museums in Auckland