Premier House | |
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![]() Premier House during an open day in 2015 | |
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General information | |
Location | 41°16′36.4″S 174°46′14.8″E / 41.276778°S 174.770778°E |
Address | 260 Tinakori Road, Thorndon |
Town or city | Wellington |
Country | New Zealand |
Current tenants | Currently vacant |
Owner | The Crown[1] |
Designated | 24 March 1988 |
Reference no. | 1371 |
Premier House (Māori: Te Whare Pirimia) is the official residence of the prime minister of New Zealand, located at 260 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand.
A private house purchased for the prime minister's official residence when government shifted its base to Wellington in 1865, it was first greatly expanded and then, as its wooden structure deteriorated, shunned in the 1930s by the more modest political leaders on learning the cost of repairs.
It was leased to private individuals for six years in the late 1890s, then returned to use as an official residence for the prime minister until the Great Depression, when a new government in 1935 wished to avoid "show". For more than half a century, the building was used as a dental clinic for children until it was renovated and recommissioned as Premier House in 1990.