12 Fife Lane, Heritage house in Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand.
12 Fife Lane is a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Miramar, Wellington, with plastered brick walls and a concrete tile gable roof, standing on a 505 m2 section. Completed in 1937, it was the first state house built under the First Labour Government and is listed as a Category 1 Historic Place by Heritage New Zealand.
The house opened in 1937 when Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage personally carried furniture inside, marking the start of New Zealand's first state housing program. It was the beginning of a major effort to house working families after years of economic hardship.
The residence represents the Labour Government's commitment to providing affordable housing for working New Zealand families after the Depression. It shows how the state actively stepped in to create homes for ordinary workers during that period.
12 Fife Lane is a private residence and is not open to visitors; it can only be viewed from the street. The house stands on a 505 m2 section in Miramar, Wellington, and is listed as a Category 1 Historic Place with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, registration number 1360.
The first tenants, David and Mary McGregor, paid weekly rent that represented roughly one-third of David's income as a tram driver. These small figures reveal much about the modest wages and financial struggles of working families in the 1930s.
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