Annendale and the Onehunga Club

Now the Heritage House Café, this historic home was built in 1884 and given the name ‘Annendale’, and later as ‘Scotlands’, by its first resident, Dr William George Scott. Scott was a medical doctor and became mayor in 1883 on his quest to ensure a safe, clean water supply for typhus-wracked Onehunga. In 1948, the house was turned into a rest home for the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers. However, it was bought by New Zealand Railways in 1953 since the property was on the proposed route of a rail line between Penrose and Avondale. This railway would have provided a bypass for freight traffic to avoid the city and suburban passenger service, however it never moved beyond the planning stage. In 1974, the Onehunga Club—a social group of local businessmen—was allowed to buy the land after renting it from the Railways years earlier. Part of the building was subsequently leased to Royal Oak Traders Ltd., both of which have now been replaced by the café.

There are lava caves in the back garden remaining from the eruption of Maungakiekie One Tree Hill. These were once used by the hotel next door (now a vacant lot) as a naturally chilled cellar. During the Second World War, the Auckland Art Gallery stored paintings in the caves as they were thought to be bombproof.

Continue along Onehunga Mall.