2026 Open Day

Our annual open day with entry by donation is always a popular event!

The house will be open 10am-4pm with entry by donation, including our current exhibition Growing Up on Mr Ward's Map. 

Programme

10am: Plants from our garden raised by our wonderful volunteers will be sold as a fundraiser for Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. Plants priced from $5. Cash and card accepted, you may like to bring a box or bag to carry your plants home in.

11am: 'Unfolding Thorndon in the Thomas Ward Map'. Join historian Elizabeth Cox as she explores the streets and alleyways of historic Thorndon in the 1890s, and the people who lived there. Elizabeth will explore what the Thomas Ward map shows of Thorndon and its creative communities. She will also examine some of the processes and alleyways she went down herself while writing her book Mr Ward's Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street, which recently won the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards prize for illustrated non-fiction. Due to limited space, registration is required. To find out more and register, click here.

12.30pm: Faultline Lacemakers Group will be showcasing the art of lacemaking and giving visitors the opportunity to try their hand at this centuries-old craft.

This year, Katherine Mansfield House & Garden is part of the Thorndon Creative and Historic Cottages Walk for the Wellington Heritage Festival. Enjoy a stroll through historic Thorndon between Katherine Mansfield House & Garden, Randell Cottage, Lilburn House and the garden at Rita Angus Cottage. Each site will be open on Sunday 25 October with activities including talks, readings and sketching in the garden. Pick up a map at any of the four houses to guide your stroll, perhaps stopping at a café on Tinakori Road for fuel along the way! More information about the walk can be found here.