McIlwain House (528 Glenfield Road)

This beautifully maintained villa is one of few such buildings in Glenfield. The land around it passed through several hands before it was acquired by Hugh McIlwain on 8 February 1904. In late 1911, he refinanced his mortgage, presumably to build this home. The house incorporates Edwardian villa features, although it also borrows from the bungalow style. The verandah once extended to the back but was reduced to make room for additions to the structure. McIlwain lived in the house until his death in the early 1930s.

The property was transferred several more times in the 1930s until Charles Pugh purchased it on 3 November 1940. The Pugh family had arrived in Port Albert in 1840 and owned a homestead to the west of the property in James Street. They used their newly-acquired land to graze cattle and raise other livestock. On the northern half of the property, at the end of Wairau Road, a son, Donald Pugh, opened a benzene service station, as well as a garage and workshop. This was later relocated to the northern end of the property, where the Mobil station is today. The Pughs never lived in the old McIlwain house—throughout this time, they rented the old Edwardian villa.

The former McIlwain property was reduced in size over time as roads and drainage channels cut into the 11 acre estate. The Pughs subdivided the northern section first, with the remaining acrage split up by Kelston Heights Ltd in February 1960. The former McIlwain house survives on Kelston Heights Lot 14, now 528 Glenfield Road. In 1976, the Takapuna City Council listed this building as an historic home and it remains one of the only surviving examples of pre-First World War architecture in Glenfield.

Continue along Glenfield Road.