Thorndon Trail

Mansfield is reckoned New Zealand's most famous writer, though she didn't stay here long. Moving to England she fell in with D H Lawrence, Virginia Woolf and the 'Garsington Set', and died quite soon after from tuberculosis. But her family home here is delightful and well worth a visit even if it distracts you from the rest of this Thorndon Trail.

James Chapman-Taylor was an architect who adopted the Arts and Crafts style from William Morris in England and brought it to New Zealand. Thorndon has quite a few of his houses, or houses in the general style - and there's even his workshop, now a very pleasant restaurant on Molesworth Street.

Torless Terrace, Calgarry Avenue, Poplar Grove and Aorangi Terrace are a contrast from the grand houses. 'Workers cottages', charming if a bit chaotic and slightly 'off the grid', they nevertheless fetch a fair price these days.

The Shamrock was one of Thorndon's (many) old pubs, but being in the path of the motorway it got moved and re-sited up the hill in 1980. It hasn't exactly thrived since and is currently disused.

Just up Tinakori Road is the Prime Minister's house. Nowadays security is tighter, the trees are much higher, and you can't see anything - so this is my photo from 25 years ago. Opinions vary on the place ... the current PM Christopher Luxon prefers his own flat down in Kate Shepperd Apartments and lets the public pay for it ... he characterises Premier House as 'like a 1980s motel'. 

A triangular house squeezed onto a strange little plot - but it makes the most of the space, and the view, and seems a rather nice place.

Another exotic house up on the hill, with (when I went past) quite an exotic set of residents. 'Get it right' up here and you have spectacular views even if the house doesn't enjoy all modern conveniences - and this one certainly 'gets it right'.

Just a small worker's cottage from the 1850s, with traffic 24/7 - but being on Tinakori Road and opposite Premier House, these places can sell for up to $1M.   

Again a bit blighted by their location, these huge houses from 1903 tower over Tinakori Road and are used as an icon or the annual Thorndon Street Fair - a rather better-than-usual local fair with 'attitude'. 

Not quite the original Shepherd's Arms - that seems to have got subsumed into this expanded version - but it's a popular local haunt and a respectable place to stay. 

Built in 1862, this tiny cottage housed Granny Cooper, who also ran a school here. It even had a playground!  

Rita Angus was - and is - one of New Zealand's finest and most popular artists. Quite how she had enough space to work here, or how she shipped her paintings and materials in and out on this awful hilly site, is beyond me.