The former Ministerial Residence located at 41 Pipitea Street is known as the ‘unofficial’ prime ministerial residence of Prime Ministers Sidney Holland, Walter Nash, and Keith Holyoake.
The house at 41 Pipitea Street was originally constructed for Robert Westley Bothamley (1888-1967), a solicitor from Porirua, in 1927. Bothamley had acquired the property in that year from John Walters, a settler of Wellington, but it is unknown if Bothamley ever occupied the house himself. Bothamley had married Doris Evelyn Gear in 1916 and they lived at the Gear Homestead in Porirua. After Doris passed away Robert continued to live at the homestead until his death in 1967.
The architect of the house was Stanley W. Fearn (1887-1976) and the builder J. Clark, and the application for construction was received by the Wellington City Council on 8 June 1927. The house was designed with elements of the English Cottage Revival and Neo Georgian styles that were favoured by Fearn.
In 1928 the property was transferred to Dorothy Paterson, wife of merchant Stronach Paterson, in 1928. Stronach Paterson was a director of A.S. Paterson and Co., and held other notable positions, including the Government representative on the London Agency of the Dairy Producers’ Board. He retired from his directorship of A.S. Paterson and Co., in 1940.
The house at 41 Pipitea Street was then purchased by the Crown for £8000 in 1943. The building had been acquired for use as an office for the National Provident Fund and the Friendly Societies Department.
The house has gained much of its significance as the ‘unofficial’ Prime Ministerial residence. Following the election of Michael Joseph Savage in 1935, and the decision that Premier House at 260 Tinakori Road was too ostentatious for him to live in, Ministers lived in other homes for the next 40 years.
The first Prime Minister to live at 41 Pipitea Street was Sidney George Holland, who was leader of the National Party when it won the election in 1949. Holland announced that he intended to make 41 Pipitea Street his official residence but added that ‘someday I hope an official residence with suitable grounds and with suitable accommodation to extend hospitality to visitors might become available’. Holland served as Prime Minister from December 1949 until 1957, when he stepped down due to ill health prior to the election in November 1957. Keith Holyoake (1904-1983) took up the National Party leadership and was Prime Minister until the December 1957 election when Labour gained victory and Walter Nash (1882-1968) led the country until December 1960 when Holyoake won back the position. Nash lived at Pipitea Street for a period during his time as Prime Minister but his main residence was at 12 St Albans Grove, Lower Hutt.
The residence is most well known as the home of Keith and Norma Holyoake who lived there during Holyoake’s term as Prime Minister, from December 1960 to February 1972. Holyoake would become New Zealand’s third longest serving Prime Minister and was well known for his modest living arrangements. He rejected the trappings of office and his life at Pipitea Street was comfortable but by no means lavish. Holyoake was always available and accessible to the public, and this was reflected in his address and phone number being listed. He received many phone calls at the residence and members of his family remember him defending these interruptions as a necessity of public life. Holyoake’s accessibility as a politician and a Prime Minister was met with respect and his physical presence walking to Parliament, visiting the local shops, and out on the street of Wellington is fondly remembered by the public.
Holyoake was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of June 1970 and was made a Knight of the Grand Cross of St Michael and St George. He had previously declined the award, but accepted it in 1970 because it was from the Queen, and he couldn’t ‘tell a nice little woman like that to go and get stuffed’. The press conference was held at Pipitea Street and Holyoake was the first New Zealand Prime Minister to be knighted while still in office. Holyoake was later, with some controversy, appointed governor general and his wife Norma was honoured for her services to public service in 1980. Their standing was further enhanced when they became companions of the Queen’s service Order.
Questions about the suitability of the house were raised a number of times and the construction of departmental office buildings as part of the Government Centre plan earmarked 41 Pipitea for future demolition and development. Due to this the house was not well maintained during the 1970s, and it was known for its dilapidated state, and it had been said that the Holyoake’s had put buckets under the leaks in the kitchen roof whenever it rained. With the defeat of the National Party at the 1972 election, Keith and Norma moved out of the residence at Pipitea Street and they purchased a house in Aurora Street.
The plans for the Ministry of Works development of Pipitea Street never eventuated and the house continued to be used as a Ministerial residence. It has been the home to a number of ministers over the years, and has been the site of several protests including during the Bastion Point (Takeparawhā) occupation.
Changes to the policies about the housing of ministers and allowances for accommodation have decreased the need for the Crown to own ministerial residences, and as such, this house ceased to be a ministerial residence in May 2012. This politically famous address remains associated with the government, although is no longer publicly owned, as it has been purchased by 41 Pipitea Street Limited for use by the National Party as headquarters.
