- The Wellington mansion built by Thomas Rangiwāhia Ellison is for sale.
- Ellison, a key figure in rugby history, never lived in the house due to his early death.
- The five-bedroom home, listed by Bayleys, offers a historic opportunity but needs restoration.
The Wellington mansion built by Thomas Rangiwāhia Ellison, the man behind New Zealand’s national rugby team adopting the black jersey with the silver fern monogram, has hit the market for sale.
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Ellison, who captained the New Zealand Maori team of 1888, the predecessor to the first All Blacks team, was one of the most influential Māori players of his day, and wrote one of the earliest rugby coaching manuals, The Art of Rugby Football.
Off the field, he was a lawyer and worked for the Wellington law firm Brandon, Hislop and Johnston. He was one of the first Māori to be admitted to the bar, owned a car when few people did, and stood three times for parliament, but failed on each occasion.
The villa was designed by notable Wellington architect James Bennie. It is looking for a buyer who can restore it to its former glory. Photo / Supplied
The grand home sits on 12.88ha of land in Wellington’s Eastbourne. Photo / Supplied
He employed top architect James Bennie to build his house, Glenwood, at 287 Muritai Road, in Eastbourne. The design was a mix of the traditional bay villa and Queen Anne-style house.
Tragically, he never got to live there. While the building was still under construction, Ellison was hospitalised, and his life was cut short at the age of 36 by tuberculosis.
Glenwood, which sits on almost 13ha and has an RV of over $2 million, has been home to several high-profile residents, including a doctor, the assistant manager of the Port Shipping Line, film producer Roger Mirams, and Eugene Louis Lestocquoy, Croix de Guerre, Trade Commissioner for France.
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The current owners, the Ross family, bought the heritage-listed home in 2002 for $1m. They knew it well, having lived in the area, and loved its rich history. “It had wow factor,” Liz Ross told OneRoof.
She would love “a young family with vigour who are sympathetic to the home’s character and history" to buy it.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom home is listed with Bayleys agent Jamie Pollock, who told OneRoof that the sale was a “fantastic opportunity” for a buyer to put their mark on a historic residence.
“It obviously needs a little bit of work to bring it back to its former glory. But it could be a pretty spectacular residence.”
Pollock said that the family had hoped their now-adult children would take over the home, but plans had changed. “One of the children was going to move back, do it up and live in it, and it was going to stay in the family,” Pollock said.
“The children aren’t moving back to Wellington, so there is no need for it anymore.”
- 287 Muritai Road, Eastbourne, Lower Hutt, goes to auction on July 30
