What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 10:30am - 4:30pm Thursday 10:30am - 4:30pm Friday 10:30am - 4:30pm Saturday 10:30am - 4:30pm Sunday 10:30am - 4:30pm

Highwic 1862

Name: Highwic 1862
Address: 40 Gillies Avenue, Epsom, Auckland, 1023, NZ
Telephone: +6495245729
Price range: $

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Visit one of New Zealand's finest Carpenter Gothic houses, a snapshot of society life in the 1880s.

14/10/2026

🍅 How creative can you get with wonky vegetables?
Let your imagination run wild and have a go at creating your own unique creature for the Wonky Vege Creature Competition at the Highwic Plant Fair on Saturday 31 October, from 10am.

Entries need to be on display by 1pm (look for the Highwic Info Stand). Judging will take place between 1pm – 1.30pm.

The judges will be looking for the most creative use of vegetables, and the creature that makes them smile the most! The wonkier the better.

There is a $50 Westfield Newmarket Gift Voucher for the top 3 entries.
Generously supported by Wonky Box.

🗓When: Saturday 31 October 2026
🕰Time: 10am – 2pm (judging at 1pm)
📍Where: Highwic, 40 Gillies Ave, Epsom

13/10/2026

Join us for a guided tour of Highwic, Thursday 29 October 10.30am - 12.00pm, to get up close and learn more about the lives of the pioneering Buckland family who lived at Highwic from the 1860s.

Staff will guide you from room to room bringing to light the unique stories and objects in each space.

To book, email [email protected]

12/10/2026

These two dried, deflated objects are tuatara eggs. They are housed in a metal matchbox, accompanied by a note from the collector, ‘Mr Gesse’, and are on display at Ewelme Cottage in Parnell, Auckland.

It is unknown how these tuatara eggs came to be part of the Lush family collection, but it is believed they may have been given to the family sometime in the 19th century.

The Lush family had a strong interest in natural history, and the collection at Ewelme Cottage includes specimens from New Zealand and overseas.

Despite their lizard-like appearance, tuatara are not classified as lizards. Instead, they belong to the order Rhynchocephalia, an ancient group of reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.

Tuatara are the only surviving members of this order and are endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Visit Ewelme Cottage, Sunday 10.30am-4.30pm (last entry 3.45pm)

09/10/2026

The Compost Collective will be on site at the Highwic Plant Fair on Saturday 31 October 2026, from 10am - 2pm.

The Compost Collective empower Aucklanders to waste less and compost more. They will be sharing their knowledge and showcasing different compost systems, including worm farms!

A range of stallholders will be on site selling perennials, shrubs, climbers, grasses, flower and vegetable seedlings, subtropical fruit trees, berries, frangipani, heritage roses, succulents, natives, vintage garden tools, flowerpots, and more.

For more information visit: www.visitheritage.co.nz/whats-on/auckland-events/highwic-plant-fair-sat-31-oct

02/10/2026

Wonderful to have Jennifer Duval-Smith back at Highwic to kick off our Spring Workshop Series!

Check out some of the amazing watercolour techniques her students used to create stunning artworks inspired by the flowers found in our gardens 🌷🎨

25/09/2026

In celebration of this year's Auckland Heritage Festival theme - Tastes of Tāmaki: A Heritage Feast - we have brought two family recipe books out from the collection. Written at Highwic in the late 1800s by Matilda Jane Buckland and her first daughter Matilda “Minnie” Tonks (nee Buckland). They will be on temporary display until the end of October.

The Buckland family who lived at Highwic during the Victorian period had a large number of children, and at one stage up to 15 lived at Highwic. Even with an employed cook, the abundance of mouths to feed necessitated help in the kitchen from Matilda Buckland and her daughters. Their recipe books, written with the immaculate cursive of an earlier era, are a lasting artifact of Victorian family recipes from this time.

Our volunteer coal range bakers will be baking recipes from family recipe books on Wednesday 7 October. Come along and try these special treats. Bookings via Eventbrite: https://highwiccoalrangebaking.eventbrite.co.nz

22/09/2026

Set in the beautiful grounds of Highwic, the 2026 Plant Fair will be a great day out for people to buy plants, visit the gardens, meet like-minded green-fingered people, have a go at hands-on activities, and enjoy good coffee and food.

The orchard garden will be in full bloom, and stallholders will be on site selling a range of plants including perennials, shrubs, climbers, grasses, heritage roses, natives, subtropical fruit trees, berries, frangipanis, cut flowers, flower and veggie seedlings, succulents, vintage gardening tools, and much more. Join us for a great day out.

Highwic house and retail shop will also be open to visit, including a special display of antique embroidered works featuring flowers, and a display of vintage gardening tools.

15/09/2026

Only just a week away!

Celebrate the arrival of Spring with the Botanical Watercolour Painting workshop with Jennifer Duval-Smith! Bookings are essential, please book via eventbrite: https://BotanicalPaintingHighwic.eventbrite.co.nz

13/09/2026

Sunnier and warmer days mean croquet makes an appearance out on our lawn☀

We recently had a visit from the Auckland Chinese Community Centre, with their members eager to score some points against eachother!

09/09/2026

Visit Alberton and Highwic this school holidays and have a go at the Tastes of Tāmaki Quiz.

Explore the house and hunt out clues to reveal answers about what the families ate, grew and cooked at these properties in the late 1800’s.

Complete the quiz and go into the draw for a $50 Westfield voucher. As a bonus, you’ll get to take home a recipe from the family collection.

Held in conjunction with the Auckland Heritage Festival.

Address

40 Gillies Avenue, Epsom
Auckland
1023

Opening Hours

Wednesday	10:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10:30am - 4:30pm
Friday	10:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday	10:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday	10:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+6495245729

Website

http://www.highwic.co.nz/

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