“Purchased by the Crown in 1865 the Prime Minister's Residence also known as Premier house. In 1874 the Crown acquired section 632 once owned by James Hill. Sections 630, 631 and 632 are the last three original town acre sections in Wellington. The 1874 purchase brought the grounds surrounding Premier House (where the horse chestnut stands) to just under 121 square metres, a dramatic contrast to the small, heavily built-up sections that characterised the rest of Thorndon. The grounds were landscaped soon after this acquisition. A site plan of 1890 shows a kitchen garden, shrubberies, flower-beds and fruit trees. The small house on section 632, which had been rented by both Sir George Grey and Edward Gibbon Wakefield, was retained on its site until 1935 when it was replaced with a new ministerial residence by the Labour Government. Many of the trees planted in the 1870s had been retained, and enough of the original framework of the garden had survived to enable city council gardeners to restore it to its former glory. The grounds are now considered one of the best examples of a Victorian garden. Now the Wellington residence of the Prime Minister, the house and grounds are maintained as a piece of living heritage.”
Sources
www.heritage.org.nz/thelist/details/1371