Katherine Mansfield Birthplace
Encyclopedia
Katherine Mansfield Birthplace was the home of Katherine Mansfield
, New Zealand
's most famous author. The building, located in Thorndon
, is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
. The Birthplace is open to the public, having been restored and furnished by the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society Incorporated, which was founded by Oroya Day (art historian), Peter Young (solicitor), and architect James Beard
.
The land for the building was originally owned by Charles Clifford, while the building itself was built for Mansfield's father Harold Beauchamp. Katherine Mansfield recreated memories of her childhood home in her short stories The Aloe
, Prelude
, A Birthday, The Doll’s House
, and The Wind Blows
. Mansfield described the house as a 'dark little cubby hole' and a 'horrid little piggy house'.
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's most famous author. The building, located in Thorndon
Thorndon
Thorndon is an inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It combines residential accommodation and the home of government, and is located at the northern end of the Central Business District...
, is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value'") historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust is a non-profit trust that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage buildings in New Zealand...
. The Birthplace is open to the public, having been restored and furnished by the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society Incorporated, which was founded by Oroya Day (art historian), Peter Young (solicitor), and architect James Beard
James Beard (architect)
James Albert "Jim" Beard is a significant Wellington architect, town planner, and landscape architect. He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. A Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects since 1969 has in the past been closely involved in the institute at a national level...
.
The land for the building was originally owned by Charles Clifford, while the building itself was built for Mansfield's father Harold Beauchamp. Katherine Mansfield recreated memories of her childhood home in her short stories The Aloe
The Aloe
The Aloe is a novel written by Katherine Mansfield in 1930.-External links:*...
, Prelude
Prelude (short story)
Prelude is a 1918 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published by the Hogarth Press in July 1918, and later reprinted in Bliss and Other Stories.-Plot summary:I...
, A Birthday, The Doll’s House
The Doll's House (short story)
The Doll's House is a 1922 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in The Nation and Atheneum on 4 February 1922, and later appeared in The Dove's Nest and Other Stories...
, and The Wind Blows
The Wind Blows
-Composition:"The Wind Blows" was originally written for singer Gwen Stefani on the road between Japan and Australia a couple of years prior to the release of When the World Comes Down, but it was turned down. At the time the song was named "Alone Again"...
. Mansfield described the house as a 'dark little cubby hole' and a 'horrid little piggy house'.