Alberton

Experience grandeur, Auckland-style at a party house for the colonial elite. Alberton is a beautiful timber mansion, set in gracious grounds, oozing Indian-themed architectural charm with elegant Raj-influenced verandahs and turrets. Allan Kerr-Taylor inherited a fortune from his father who was a colonel In the British Army in India. As a younger son he sought his fortune in the new colony of New Zealand and prospered. During the late nineteenth century, he built Alberton to house his growing family. The family became known for their balls, hunts and garden parties. It is easy to imagine these events today with this stunning house set amidst gracious lawns and gardens shaded by large specimen trees. Visitors today could also be forgiven for thinking the family had just popped out for a while. When bequeathed to the public in 1972, the Kerr Taylor descendants left the house furnished with a treasure trove of artefacts including furnishings, household items of a former era.