Highwic House

Highwic House is one of Auckland and New Zealand’s premium Gothic wooden homes. Highwic was built in 1862 for Alfred Buckland and his wife Eliza and their large family of 21 children. Alfred Buckland was an astute businessman; this led to the ownership of considerable land within Auckland, and the Buckland’s status as well to-do prosperous property-owners. In 1873 the family extended the home in the style of Andrew Jackson Downing’s Pattern book – the Architecture of Country Houses. A J Downing was considered to be America’s most influential writer of pattern books of his time. This colonial Gothic home is a tribute to his work and the Buckland’s vision for a beautifully furnished home, housing many antiquities with extensively manicured lawns and fine gardens on a well maintained hectare of land. The home was sold in 1978 to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust along with the then Auckland City Council, now the Auckland Council. Meander through a hedged circular garden, along tapered pathways; take pleasure in the old fashioned annual and perennials, manicured edged beds, and fantastic mature trees. Enjoy a leisurely game of croquet, stroll through to romantic ‘Lover’s Walk’, or step into the Fern House with its array of indigenous ferns. Today this Carpenter Gothic style home with its rare and beautifully preserved link to the past; is a haven away from the bustling suburb of Newmarket, one of the largest high-end shopping districts in Auckland.