Queen Margaret College
Katherine Mansfield's Birthplace
25 Tinakori Road
Thorndon
Wellington
http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/tourism/destinations
/kmbirthplace.html
We missed Katherine Mansfield's birthday by one day! On October the 15th years 2,3 and 8 of Queen Margaret College visited Katherine Mansfield's birthplace. As we walked out of the classrooms in pairs you could hear chatter and giggles of excitement for a mile. As we arrived three kind women answered the door. The first lady took half of the class up the stairs to a room next to the grandmother's room to watch "The Dolls House" from Katherine Mansfield's story The Doll's House. The other half of the class split into half again the first half went up the stairs to look around and the second stayed downstairs.
As we toured the house we noticed it was quite different from houses today. Every room's basic look was the same: small, wooden, dull. Every room had a mat on the floor that acted as carpet. The mats were amazing. As they were spread throughout the house they was pastel colours, and really stood out. Also as we were touring the house we came across a reconstruction of the dolls house, It was beautiful with its, "oily spinach green picked out with bright yellow, the door looked like a slab of toffee and its two red and white chimneys", We felt like we were in the book.
Here are what some of the year 2&3 students said:
"Is that the amber kerosene lamp from the story?"
"The Doll's House was so beautiful I couldn't take my eyes off it"
From this experience we learnt about many things about how they cooked, washed, cleaned, lived in Katherine Mansfield's time.
From looking at the history of the Old Hall we began to discover interesting facts about life in Thorndon 100 years ago. We identified some key features of Victorian interior design in the drawing room such as:
*heavily embossed floral wall paper
*large sofas and single chairs
*plush velvet chair coverings
*ornate carved wooden furniture
*china ornaments
*bare floor boards covered with heavy floral rugs
*stuffed animals under domes
*kerosene lamps
From this new knowledge we were able to complete a 3D drawing of the schools staffroom as it was a drawing room 100 years ago.
A Report By a Year 3 Student:
Visiting Katherine Mansfield's Birthplace
On Friday we went to visit Katherine Mansfield's birthplace to see the doll's house. We walked there. We are year 2, 3 and 8 of Queen Margaret College. First we knocked on the door, "Rat-a-tat-tat!" Two ladies opened the door. "Hello!" they said together. We walked in. The house was VERY old fashioned. We went up the stairs, which were covered with a beautiful carpet, which was bright scarlet with all sorts of blues and greens.
We walked into a place where she was born. It was her Grandmother's bedroom. We were told that there was only one toilet and that was outside! The family had to keep potties underneath their beds! Then we went into Katherine's bedroom. She too had a potty under her bed. Then we went back downstairs to see the doll's house. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw! On the bottom floor to the left was obviously a lounge room. Two dolls (a mum and dad) were sitting on two sofas. Those dolls were spectacular with there tiny little dresses and the father had tan brown trousers. Upstairs to the left was a dear little bedroom. There was a tiny pink cradle that really rocked. The cradle had a baby doll in it with a light pink night-dress. In the same room were two beds with two dolls underneath the pink blankets. On the bottom right was a kitchen. It had creamy yellow walls and on the little wooden table were real china plates. The floor was tiled. I cannot remember all those wonderful rooms but I can remember that outside. It was spinach green and had two red and white chimneys. It had real glass for its windows and a blood red roof. I really hope we can go and see the doll's house again sometime so I can write ALL the many details down.
