• 1860
• Job Wilson purchased the 108 acre section from Samuel Maxton
• c.1861
• Small cottage constructed
• 1883
• Cottage extended to a five-bedroom, 2-storey farm house
• 1902
• Subdivision of farmland began
• 1949
• Sale of cow paddock to the WCC for the establishment of the Wilton Bowling Club
• 1950
• (00056:383:B29534); 116 Wilton Road, wash-house
• 1971
• Subdivision of farmstead
• 1977
• Report of works to restore the Curtis House cowshed by the Ministry of Works and Development
• 1982
• Milking shed restoration
• unknown
• (00059:543:E25242); 116 Wilton Road, garage
• 1993
• (00060:38:1457); 116 Wilton Road, alterations 1457; 116 Wilton Road, alterations (including garage
• 1993 - 2006
• Chimneys removed
• 2002 - 2003
• Further restoration to milking shed

Not assessed

Not assessed

The farmhouse is a large, two-storey, five-bedroom house with a small lean-to wash house that was added in 1950. It reflects the simplicity, versatility and durability of early wooden framed and weather-board colonial architecture. The original c.1861 two-bedroom cottage was enlarged in c.1883, leaving the extant totara and rimu timber two-storey, six-bedroom house. The original cottage and outhouses were constructed using the common colonial technique of using the roughly hewn pit sawn timber cleared for the new farm. The c.1883 addition was built from milled timber and is clad in rusticated weatherboards.

The ground floor kitchen and bathroom are housed in the oldest (1860s) section of the farmhouse. The reception rooms, entrance hall, and main bedroom are also located on the ground floor, but in the c.1883 extension. The first floor consists of four bedrooms, loft and roof storage room. The interior still contains original rimu and kauri paneled doors, rimu profiled mouldings and well made heart rimu stairs. The original locks, ceramic knobs and fingerplates also remain. One original cast iron fireplace is also extant.

The outhouses consist of a 40-foot long rectangular milking shed (later used as a stable) with a hay-chaff storage loft above the cow-bails. The shed is entirely clad in corrugated iron with the exception of the east façade which is open to the interior, providing the original access for the cows. A cobblestone yard next to the milking shed is still extant and was paved with stones from the Kaiwharawhara Stream. Nearby is the smaller rectangular washhouse/ dairy/ workshop which is divided into three sections, a washhouse with copper and kauri tubs, dairy for processing milk and workshop added on as a lean-to on the down hill side of the dairy.

1860s farmstead and associated outbuildings

Pit-sawn and hand-worked timber, generally totara and rimu.

Hand-made nails

1883 and later additions

Heart matai rusticated weatherboards

Heart rimu timber framing

Corrugated mild steel/ iron roofs

• Architectural

  Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

  The Wilton Farmhouse and Outbuildings is a fine example of a nineteenth century farmstead. It is particularly notable for the survival of the remnant parts of the 1860s farmhouse, and for the simple but elegant massing of the 1880s additions. The survival of the milking shed, cobbled yard and dairy is also remarkable.
  

• Group

  Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

  The farmhouse, outbuildings (including their fixtures and fittings) and the cobblestone yard is a unique assemblage with high group value. The farmstead also has some group value when considered in relation to the nearby Otari-Wilton’s Bush Reserve as both have an historic association with the Wilton family. 

• Association

  Is the item associated with an important person, group, or organisation?

  The farmhouse was owned and occupied by the Wilton family for whom the surrounding suburb is named.

  The Wilton family are well known for their association with Wilton’s Bush, a nearby botanic garden and reserve that has been a popular recreation area for over 150 years.

  The house remains in the ownership of the extended Wilton/Curtis family.

• Archaeological

  Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

  Pre 1906 buildings on the site

• Educational

  Does the item have educational value for what it can demonstrate about aspects of the past?

  The building owners/occupiers have been proactive in the use of their property to educate local school children in the lives of early settlers / farmers.  That the farmstead retains its original outbuildings – the milking shed and dairy – adds to the educational value of this group of buildings

• Technological

  Technological: Does the item have technological value for its innovative or important construction methods or use of materials?

  The farmhouse has technological value for their construction materials – pit-sawn and hand-worked timber, river-stone cobbles, and handmade nails – and for the survival of the farm out-building which demonstrate minute details of daily farm life of the 19^th century. 

• Identity Sense of place Continuity

  Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

  The farmstead has been central to Wilton’s farm and to suburban Wilton for over 150 years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of the local community.

• Public esteem

  Is the item held in high public esteem?

  The building is held in high public esteem and for its association with the Wilton family for whom the suburb of Wilton was named.  This connection is illustrated by numerous newspaper articles published on the history of Wilton and the Wilton family, by the community involvement in the restoration of the milking shed, and by the organisation of school visits by the local Otari School. 

• Authentic

  Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

  The farmstead is notable for the survival of original buildings, fixtures and fittings.

• Rare

  Is the item rare, unique, unusual, seminal, influential, or outstanding?

  The farmstead is the most complete set of colonial farm buildings in the Wellington city area. 

• Representative

  Is the item a good example of the class it represents?

  The farmstead is a good representative example of a 19^th century farmhouse and outbuildings.

Not assessed

• Cochran, Chris. ‘Curtis House: Cowshed’ Ministry of Works and Development, 1977
• LOCAL AND GENERAL. Evening Post, 3 September 1902, Page 4
• NZHPT Registration Report, prepared by Historyworks in July 2006
• NZHPT Wellington Branch Committee Newsletter, Autumn 2006
• NZHPT ‘Wilton Farmhouse and Outbuildings’ Summary Registration from the NZHPT website accessed August 2013
• Otari-Wilton’s Bush Management Plan: Appendix 2 Historic Outline’, WCC management plan adopted August 2007
• WADESTOWN LAND SALE. Evening Post, 2 December 1902, Page 4
• Wright, Richard. Letter to Mr JA Burns dated 13 April 1982

• Inventory Report

Not available