History of Robert Orr House
Last meeting we had a fantastic presentation from Claire Rumble and Jude Dods about the historic Robert Orr House in Kings Crescent, Lower Hutt. Jude is the grand-daughter of the original owner, Robert Orr, and is the current co-owner of the house with her brother. Claire is Jude’s cousin, and delivered the presentation, entitled “History of Robert Orr House”, with Jude adding detail, and answering questions from members.
We learnt that Robert Orr and his widowed mother sailed to New Zealand on the ‘Robert Henderson’ with the trip taking 108 days. The House, a two-storey Italianate styled villa, was built for Robert Orr in 1885-87 by Stephen Strand, and has remained in the family ever since.
We were told that the house was constructed using totara, rimu and matai. It is essentially symmetrical in design with two square bay windows on the principal façade flanking the entranceway. The porch features ornate pillars. The windows on the first floor are arched. In 1972 the house was repiled, and resited approximately 25 metres north of its original position.
Robert Orr established extensive market gardens on his 17-acre property, sometimes employing up to 40 people at one time. The market gardens - one of the largest areas under glass in Australasia, supplied fresh fruit and vegetables across Wellington. Most of the Orr estate was subdivided in the 1960s. The Orr Family has kept the house in its original condition as much as possible. The House has been listed with the Historic Places Trust since 1983.
A fascinating presentation about a little-known treasure in Lower Hutt.