Antrim House facts for kids
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| Location | 41°17′13″S 174°46′26″E / 41.28684°S 174.77382°E |
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| Architect | William Turnbull |
| Designated: | 26 November 1981 |
| Reference #: | 208 |
Antrim House is a beautiful historic building in Wellington, New Zealand. It was finished in 1905 for a wealthy couple, Robert and Hannah Hannah.
Contents
History of Antrim House
This grand house got its name from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. That's where Robert Hannah, the original owner, came from. Even though Robert was from Ireland, the house doesn't look like typical Irish buildings. Instead, it was built in a popular style called Italianate. This style mixes ideas from different types of architecture popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Building Features and Design
Antrim House has some cool design elements. It features heavy decorations around the ceilings inside. It also had fancy iron details on the upper parts and a central tower. These features were popular in earlier styles like Queen Anne and Second Empire.
The house was built mostly from strong New Zealand timbers. These include kauri and totara wood. It sits on solid concrete foundations.
A Family Home
Antrim House was built to show off the Hannah family's wealth and good taste. Robert Hannah was a self-made man, meaning he became rich through his own hard work. The house's central location in Wellington helped highlight its importance. It also had a lovely garden that made the property look even grander.
Inside, Antrim House was very modern for its time. It had gas pipes for lighting and the newest convenience: a piped bathroom. The ceilings were made of pressed zinc, and there was beautiful stained glass. All these details made it a very stylish and modern home.
Changes Over Time
The Hannah family moved out of the house in the 1930s. Because of its large size and central location, it became a boarding house. Many big old houses in cities ended up this way.
Sadly, the house suffered a big fire in 1940. Many of its original decorations were lost. When it was rebuilt, some of its unique features weren't replaced. For example, the windows on top of the tower used to be perfectly matched, but now they are uneven. Also, an Art Deco style arch was added above the main stairs, which looks a bit out of place with the rest of the house's older style.
Antrim House Today
Later, Heritage New Zealand took ownership of Antrim House. This organization works to protect important historic places in New Zealand. They have fixed up many parts of the house. Today, Antrim House is the main office for Heritage New Zealand.
What was once a house surrounded by other homes is now next to modern buildings. Heritage New Zealand has given Antrim House a "Category I" historic place classification. This means it's a place of "special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value." It's a very important building in New Zealand's history.
Images for kids
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Art Deco replacement window after 1940 fire
