Katherine Mansfield's Birthplace

One of the best-known addresses in Wellington is in the city’s first suburb, Thorndon; 25 Tinakori Road, which used to be number 11 before the original ‘town acre’ sections were subdivided. Visitors come to the rather austere-looking house at 25 Tinakori Road because it was here that the author, Katherine Mansfield Beauchamp, was born in 1888. The house had been built for an enterprising young merchant, Harold Beauchamp, earlier that same year.

While his daughter grew up to become one of New Zealand’s most famous writers, particularly of that difficult art form, the short story, Harold Beauchamp established himself as a successful businessman and, later in life, was knighted for his services to banking and commerce. Katherine, who’d been christened Kathleen, left New Zealand for Britain when 19 years old and never returned but her life at 25 Tinakori Road and her memories of it infuse much of her writing. If you have already read any Mansfield stories you may gain an enhanced appreciation of them after seeing the faithful restoration of her home.

If you have the time to look inside, be prepared for a longish stay. It’s been said that “to step through its front door today into the hushed, formal atmosphere of the 1880s is to experience instant time travel. The rooms are carefully presented to look as though the Beauchamps are still in residence, and have just stepped out for the afternoon.”

The restoration began in the mid-1980s and its present state is the work of both volunteers and professionals. The work has been done to international standards and the restorers have gone to great lengths to ensure that both the house and garden reflect the circumstances of the family at the time, with its antique furniture, wallpapers that replicate the original, and the garden filled with flowers and plants of the varieties that were available in Wellington in the 1880-to-1900 period.

25 Tinakori Road has extra historical interest, thanks to another prominent occupant. Dr Frederic Truby King made his home here from 1921 to 1924. Dr Truby King founded one of New Zealand’s most influential baby and child health organisations, the Plunket Society, which still, today, continues its beneficial work. The Katherine Mansfield Birthplace is open seven days a week between 10 am and 4 pm.

A fee is charged for admission. The concrete block fence to one side fell down in the 2016 earthquake.

* [Dale Williams, Te Puakitanga The First Place of the Storyteller. In: New Zealand Historic Places No 80, February 2001.]

Writer, Ashleigh Young was for a short time Director at Katherine Mansfield's Birthplace.

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