Ewelme Cottage

Ewelme Cottage, Auckland – Overview

Ewelme Cottage was built between 1863 and 1864 by Reverend Vicesimus Lush and his wife Blanche Hawkins. This historic cottage which sits behind a picket fence was initially inhabited by its creator- this curiously named man and later by his descendants for more than a century.  In 1967 Auckland City Council bought the cottage and leased it to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

More about the House

The house was built using kauri which is a highly resilient timber and was used extensively as the best wood by the Maori for their war canoes; later on it was also used by the Europeans for ship masts and floors. The house which remains virtually the same since 1880s contains the original furniture and personal possessions of the Lush family including a fine collection of books. It has small pitched-roof bedrooms, which can be accessed using the steep, narrow stairs and most interestingly they still remain the way the Lushes might have left them. The house was also used in a movie; its drawing room, veranda, and the garden can also be seen in Jane Campion’s film The Piano.