Katherine Mansfield House and Garden

Katherine Mansfield House and Garden
Katherine Mansfield House and Garden in Thorndon, Wellington
General information
Architectural style Italianate
Town or city 25 Tinakori Road, Wellington
Country New Zealand
Coordinates 41°16′13″S 174°46′48″E / 41.270164°S 174.77992°E / -41.270164; 174.77992
Construction started 1887
Cost £400
Client Harold Beauchamp
Design and construction
Architect Unknown
Website
http://www.katherinemansfield.com/
Designated 11-Jul-1986
Reference no. 4428

Katherine Mansfield House and Garden (formerly known as Katherine Mansfield Birthplace) was the home of Katherine Mansfield, a prominent New Zealand author. The building, located in Thorndon, Wellington, is classified as a "Category I" historic place by Heritage New Zealand.

Construction and layout

Sir Charles Clifford purchased the lot in 1887 and leased it to Mansfield's father, Harold Beauchamp. The conditions of the Lease required the house built on it to be valued at £400 and not within 10 feet of Tinakori Road. The house was constructed in 1888 during a depression, and was most likely built to a builder's plan.

The two-storey house measures 9.1 metres (30 ft) wide and 12.1 metres (40 ft) long. The first floor comprises a drawing room, dining room, bathroom, kitchen, scullery, and lean-to. On the second floor are four bedrooms and a night nursery.[1]:12

The original wallpaper and ceramics, which have been recovered through archaeological excavations, demonstrate Katherine's mother Annie Beauchamp's interest in the aesthetic movement occurring in Europe as the house was being constructed.[2]

History

Mansfield's family moved into the house in 1888. She was born on October 14, a few months after the move. The initial occupants were her parents; her two sisters, Vera and Charlotte; two aunts, Bell and Kity, from her mother's side; and her grandmother, Grannie Dryer.[3] With a servant also on the premises, the living space was crowded.

Mansfield drew on memories of her childhood home in her short stories "Prelude" (and subsequent novel, The Aloe); "A Birthday"; "The Doll’s House", and "The Wind Blows". Mansfield described the house as "[a] dark little cubby hole"[4] and "[a] horrid little piggy house".[5]

Other occupants

Harold Beauchamp leased the house until 1929. While there were many occupants and families in the house during this period, the most notable was Dr. Frederick Truby King, founder of the Plunket Society. He lived in the house from 1921 to 1924, during which time he was appointed the Director of Child Welfare in the Department of Health.[1]:8

Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society

The Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society—founded in 1986[5] by art historian Oroya Day, Peter Young, and the architect James Beard—purchased the property in 1987.[1] In the 1980s, the society restored the house to its original condition, undertaking considerable research and relying on Mansfield's own descriptions as well as photographs and "archeological and architectural analyses".[5] The house and its garden are open to the public.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cochran, Chris (2011). Katherine Mansfield Birthplace: Conservation Plan.
  2. ↑ Boddy, Gillian (1996). Katherine Mansfield: A 'Do You Remember' Life. Wellington: Victoria University Press. p. 8. ISBN 086473297X.
  3. ↑ "About Katherine Mansfield House". Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  4. ↑ "Katherine Mansfield: 1888–1923". Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Te Puakitanga. Archived from the original on 2008-10-14.
  5. 1 2 3 "Katherine Mansfield Birthplace". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
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