Pah Homestead

The Pah Homestead is a historic Italianate villa in Hillsborough, Auckland, New Zealand, situated within Monte Cecilia Park. Built between 1877 and 1879, it is now owned by the Auckland Council and functions as a public art gallery housing the Arts House Trust collection of New Zealand art. The building is one of the largest and best-preserved historic private residences from New Zealand's Pākehā settlement period, and its current role as a gallery makes it a significant cultural venue in Auckland.

The site of the Pah Homestead was originally a fortified Māori pā during the 17th and 18th centuries, significant to Ngāi Riukiuta, descendants of the Tainui canoe. The chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero is believed to have occupied the site between 1839 and 1844. In 1844, William Hart purchased the land for cattle and dairy farming, selling it in 1851 to William Brown and John Logan Campbell. Thomas Russell acquired the farm in 1866 for £12,725 and added notable plantings including a Chilean wine palm, bunya-bunya pines, and a circular grove of holm oaks. In January 1872, Cyrus Haley attacked the house, firing shots into each bedroom; no one was injured, and Haley was convicted of attempted murder. Auckland businessman James Williamson bought the property for £10,000 in 1877, demolished the existing house, and commissioned Edward Mahoney of E. Mahoney and Son to design a new residence. Construction was completed in 1879. After the stock market crash of 1886, Williamson was forced to sell, and following his death in caveat 1888, the Bank of New Zealand took over the estate. On 11 February 1902, St John's Collegiate School opened at the Homestead as a day and boarding school for boys. In 1913, the Sisters of Mercy purchased the property, renaming it Monte Cecilia; it later passed to the Catholic Diocese and served as an orphanage, novitiate, and temporary residence for the unhoused and new migrants. The building was registered as a Category I heritage structure by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on 1 September 1983, with reference number 89. The Auckland City Council purchased the Homestead in September 2002 as part of plans to develop Monte Cecilia Park. The council undertook heritage conservation planning, archaeological and geophysical assessment, cultural heritage overview of Whataroa Pā, landscape history, and tree assessment. Roof restoration followed, involving weatherproofing, structural reinforcement, seismic upgrading, and use of English slate tiles and rolled lead to match original materials, with work carried out by NZ Strong Construction in consultation with Matthews & Matthews Architects Ltd. and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. In August 2010, the building opened as the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre. In 2021, the James Wallace Arts Trust was reestablished as a new charitable entity, disassociated from James Wallace, and renamed The Arts House Trust.

The Arts House Trust promotes contemporary New Zealand art and artists. The gallery hosts free programmes and exhibitions. The collection comprises over 9,500 works of New Zealand art, making it a substantial holding of contemporary art in the country.

The Pah Homestead is an Italianate villa constructed of brick rendered with cement to imitate stone, designed by Edward Mahoney and built between 1877 and 1879. It was based on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and was the largest house in the Auckland province at the time, widely noted as the finest. The house features verandahs, balconies, and a central tower with a viewing room at the top offering a 360-degree view of the landscape, equipped with a telescope. The main rooms have high-quality plaster ceilings, Italian marble fireplaces, parquet floors with inlaid borders, and finely chased metal fixtures to the doors. The house has views to One Tree Hill to the north, Mount Smart to the east, and the Manukau Harbour to the south. The property includes mature plantings from the Russell era, including a Chilean wine palm, bunya-bunya pines, and holm oaks, many of which survive to substantial size. The house and grounds have served as filming locations for several productions: The Quiet Earth (1985), Gloss (1987), Lucy (2003), Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), and The Luminaries (2020).

The Pah Homestead is located in Hillsborough, Auckland Region, New Zealand, within Monte Cecilia Park. It is owned by the Auckland Council. The building operates as an art gallery under the name The Arts House Trust, having previously been known as the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre. The gallery offers free programmes and exhibitions to the public.