Alberton (100 Mount Albert Road)

Allan Kerr Taylor was 16 years old when he sailed from Edinburgh to join his family in New Zealand in 1849. His father, a general in the East Indian Army, gave him £1400 to buy land, which translated into 500 acres between Mount Albert and Kingsland. His brothers, whose estates included Glen Innes and Glendowie, thought him mad to buy such a rocky piece of land. They nicknamed it ‘Morningside’, after a Scottish lunatic asylum.

Over time, Allan’s cottage, ‘Alberton’, developed into one of Auckland’s premier country houses. County Balls and hunting meets were held there for decades. The Kerr-Taylor family’s land was progressively subdivided to create the suburbs around this area, but the land they provided to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (now Plant and Food) proved to be an inconvenience. The DSIR threatened to buy up and knock down the original house in 1970, so the Kerr-Taylors sold their home to Heritage New Zealand instead. The house is open to visitors from Wednesday to Sunday.

Return to and cross Mount Albert Road, then turn right. Continue along the road until Toroa Terrace and then turn left.