Britten House

Like an overgrown pa, the hillside house originally designed for Des and Lorraine Britten by Roger Walker is now hidden behind trees. The Brittens commissioned the house in 1973 from Roger Walker, a young and adventurous architect. Other architects had been approached, but Walker was the only one willing to take on the site. He later reminisced: “The land was almost impossible to build on. It was a cliff face – goat country, basically.” His response was to design a series of connected spaces climbing around a staircase over eight storeys, culminating in a lookout with views across the harbour.

Des Britten achieved fame presenting two television cooking shows in the 1970s — Thyme for Cookery and Bon Appetit. Such was his influence that, after one programme which featured an aubergine, viewers rushed to the Wellington produce market and bought every one. He also managed The Coachman restaurant in Wellington for twenty-eight years, while finding time to write several cookery books. He ran the Wellington City Mission for eighteen years, was ordained as an Anglican clergyman and was knighted for his services to Wellington. His formal title is now the Reverend Canon Father Sir Des Britten.

The Britten house won an Institute of Architects national award in 1977. Roger Walker received the Institute’s Gold Medal in 2016.