Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House

The Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House is a timber residence in Christchurch with a slate roof that now functions as a museum. Inside, exhibition spaces document the women's suffrage campaign and the people who worked to achieve voting rights for women.

The house was built in the mid 1800s and became the centre of women's suffrage work starting in 1888. This campaign resulted in New Zealand becoming the first nation to grant women voting rights in 1893.

The house creates a personal connection to the suffrage movement by showing visitors the rooms where this campaign took place. The exhibitions reveal how women's activism was rooted in daily life and family spaces rather than formal institutions.

The museum is easily accessible and offers guided tours and rotating exhibitions for visitors. It is best to allow time for a careful exploration, as the rooms are intimate and filled with historical details.

Several petitions for women's voting rights were literally drafted and signed at a table still present in the house. This physical object reminds visitors that political change often begins at a single location through determined people.