Once again our Open Day at Scott Homestead, Scott’s Landing, in the Mahurangi Regional Park, was a great success, with over 70 visitors braving the brisk westerly winds to walk along the beachfront. The beautiful homestead, dating from 1877, was almost derelict when bought by the former Auckland Regional Council...
The “castle” hosted 30 people for a comprehensive talk by Geoff Richards, the architect of the restoration and renovation works, full of interesting details about not just the recent building project but historical details about the site. Then attendees had the privilege of wandering at their leisure through the entire house and garden, hindered a...
Our first Winter Lecture was held at the delightful home of Mary Barry and Tom Curham in Bradford St, Parnell, on Sunday 10 July. This cottage from the late 1800s has been lovingly restored by Mary and Tom, and they and one of their children, Kieren, shared their memories of...
At the Grey Lynn Festival on Saturday 28 November, Civic Trust Auckland’s stall presented information on heritage at risk in Auckland, especially the King’s School Hanna Block, and St David’s Church in Khyber Pass. We also explained the tortuous Unitary Plan process in basic terms and what the risks are...
Our AGM, held at the Leys Institute, the Ponsonby Library, on Sunday 22 November was very well attended. After the formalities were over, we were treated to a tour of the 1905 library building, including the basement, containing over a century of library heritage paraphernalia, as well as a heritage...
Our second Winter Lecture was held on Sunday 6 September at 123 Grafton Rd, now known as “Hum Salon”. Rosy Armitage and Oskari Miettenen presented on the history of the grand villa and the ongoing restoration project, which has mostly concentrated on the exterior so far. It was exciting to...
Once again, Civic Trust Auckland participated in the 2015 Auckland Heritage Festival, offering talks by landscape historian John Adam, and our President, heritage expert, Allan Matson. John Adam shared his knowledge of how to undertake historical research using records from the Auckland region, at two sessions on Saturday 3 October and...
Our first Winter Lecture for 2015 was held on Sunday 12 July. Civic Trust Board member architect Julian Mitchell from Mitchell Stout Architects presented on the redevelopment of the scheduled heritage Lopdell House, and the construction of the new Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, linked to the older building. Julian...
The Art of Remembrance at St David’s Church in Khyber Pass, Auckland, was unveiled by Central Auckland MP Nikki Kaye at a ceremony on the eve of ANZAC Day 2015. This unique artwork by renowned New Zealand artist Max Gimblett was inspired by the Tower of London poppies and consists of 100,000 brass quatrefoils which...
In March 2015 Donovan Rypkema from Washington DC, an expert in the economics of heritage preservation, visited Auckland as a guest of Civic Trust Auckland. This was his second visit to NZ. He also spent time in Wellington and Christchurch, discussing and presenting on seismic strengthening issues for heritage preservation....