Wadestown
Wadestown is the ridge suburb on the northern side of Te Ahumairangi, 2 to 3 km from Lambton Quay, with the harbour and the port below, Trelissick Park in the gorge behind and the village shops on Wadestown Road.
Why people love it here
Wadestown calls itself Wellington's first suburb. John Wade arrived in 1840 and took up the land the next year with James Watt, and Wade Street and Watt Street still carry their names. The tram climbed up from 1911 through the deep cutting that is now Lennel Road, and Highland Park, the old Rhodes farm at the north-eastern end, was sold off in the years after.
The houses tell the story. A c.1870 villa called Fairlight sits on a ridgeline on Pitt Street, Goldie's Brae at 4 Goldies Brae is an 1876 concrete house on the national heritage list, and Salisbury Garden Court on Cecil Road is a ring of paired 1929 bungalows around a tennis court.
The village is at the top of Wadestown Road: the Wadestown Kitchen, the dairy, the takeaways and the medical practice, with the library on Moorhouse Street round the corner. St Luke's, the 1909 brick church by Frederick de Jersey Clere at the corner of Pitt Street, is the last working church in the suburb.
Trelissick Park is in the gorge behind, with entrances from Hanover Street and Oban Street and the Northern Walkway running through it. Fort Buckley, the 1885 gun emplacements above the old Hutt Road, looks over the harbour from the end of Barnard Street. The number 14 bus runs through the shops to the city.
Wadestown, counted
Stats NZ figures for the statistical area Wadestown, Place summaries. Population is the estimated resident population; the rest are the 2023 Census. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
The best of Wadestown
Every pick checked against its own listing on 21 September 2026.
What you can buy here
The ridgeline villa
The late Victorian and Edwardian villas on Pitt Street and the ridge streets, like Fairlight from c.1870.
The Highland Park house
The larger houses on the Rhodes estate streets at the north-eastern end, subdivided from 1913 after the tram arrived.
The California bungalow
The paired 1929 to 1930 bungalows of Salisbury Garden Court on Cecil Road, sixteen of them around a tennis court.
The first suburb, on the ridge
The village
The Kitchen, the dairy and the takeaways at the top of Wadestown Road, with the library round the corner and St Luke's at the crossroads.
The gorge
Trelissick Park below the back streets, the stream, the seven bridges and the Northern Walkway on its way to Ngaio.
What people ask about Wadestown
Where is Wadestown?
Wadestown is on the northern flanks of Te Ahumairangi above Thorndon and the Ngaio Gorge, about 2 to 3 km by road from Wellington's city centre.
How far is Wadestown from Wellington's city centre?
About 2 to 3 km by road up Wadestown Road from Thorndon, and the number 14 bus runs from the shops to Wellington Station and Lambton Quay.
What is Wadestown known for?
Being Wellington's first suburb, the villas on the ridge with the harbour below, Trelissick Park in the gorge behind and Fort Buckley's 1885 gun pits.
What kind of homes are in Wadestown?
Late Victorian and Edwardian villas on the ridge streets, the larger Highland Park houses from the 1913 subdivision, and California bungalows including the paired cottages of Salisbury Garden Court.
What schools are in Wadestown?
Wadestown School takes Years 1 to 8 across its Weld Street and Rose Street sites, and Wellington Girls' College and Onslow College both name Wadestown in their enrolment zones.
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