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Alberton
This romantic timber mansion began as a farmhouse in 1863 and was later expanded to 18 rooms, with fairy-tale decorative verandahs and towers. It was owned by the Kerr Taylors, a leading family in Mount Albert, until it was left to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1972. Allan Kerr Taylor was a landowner, investor and provincial and local body politician. His wife Sophia was an outspoken advocate of the vote for women, as well as a singer, gardener and mother of 10. She ran the estate for 40 years after her husband’s death, with her three unmarried daughters running it for a further 40 years.
Alberton was famous in the 19th century for its balls, hunts, garden parties and music. It contains a wealth of original family furniture and other possessions, and several rooms retain their 19th century wallpapers.
Alberton is significant as one of the best-preserved houses of the colonial elite in the Auckland region, providing tangible evidence of the grandeur and individuality of many such residences. It gives valuable insights into the domestic lives of wealthy households, including the respective roles of women, children and servants. It is a graphic reminder of the value of family networks in colonial society and their connections with other parts of the British Empire. The building provides important information on construction methods, materials, design and decor, and shows how these technologies and fashions changed over time.
The Family
Alberton is a distinctive colonial mansion, built about 1863 by one of Auckland's elite landed families. Originally belonging to Allan Kerr Taylor (1832-1890) and his first wife, Patty (nee Meredith, 1839-1864, pictured below), the dwelling was erected on the lower slopes of Mt Albert as the centrepiece of their 203 hectare (500 acre) country estate. Overlooking a sizeable proportion of their land, it may have replaced an earlier scoria cottage, which Taylor is reputed to have constructed after buying part of the property in 1849, aged seventeen. Taylor was one of several brothers of Scots descent who purchased estates on the outskirts of early Auckland, funded by their father, an officer in the Indian Army. Among the wealthier migrants to the settlement, Taylor and his brothers prospered further by selling land for suburban subdivisions as the town expanded.
Alberton began life as a two-storey timber farmhouse with at least eleven rooms and a cellar. Its conversion to a fashionable mansion probably occurred in the 1870s, after the family's income had shifted from farming to land sales and company investments. Additions included an eastern wing with ballroom and a set of exotic corner towers with curved, ogee-shaped roofs. The latter may reflect oriental influences, linked to Allan Taylor's colonial Indian origins. The remodelled house at the head of a long, tree-lined driveway was increasingly used for social entertainment, including 'the first riding ball in New Zealand' in 1877.
Allan Taylor's second wife Sophia (nee Davis, 1847-1930, pictured left) made a number of modifications to the house, including the addition of a sewing room, after he died in 1890, which may reflect the priorites and concerns of a female-dominated household. Sophia was a well-known supporter of women's suffrage.
The building remained in the family's hands until 1972, when it was bequeathed to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust/Pouhere Taonga.
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