Kinder House is a historic house museum at 2 Ayr Street in Parnell, Auckland. Its distinctive feature is its age and style: it was built in 1857 as a Gothic Revival house, commissioned by Bishop G. A. Selwyn and designed by Frederick Thatcher. The website says it is the only colonial two-storey house of the 1850s of this design left in Auckland. It is listed by Auckland Council as a Category 1 historic building, and the tree park keeps original oak, totara and bay trees.
The ground floor shows watercolours, photographs and sketches by John Kinder, who lived from 1819 to 1903, along with temporary exhibitions by guest artists. Volunteer guides lead tours. The house is open from Wednesday to Sunday, from noon to 3pm, and the artist curator's exhibitions run longer, from 10am to 4pm. It is closed over Christmas, New Year and Easter, and at times for private hire or repairs. Entry is free, with a paper donation requested on arrival.
The house has a shop selling booklets, prints, cards and DVDs about New Zealand arts and heritage, and a library for researchers on Auckland's colonial and Victorian history. Groups can hire the house for events such as weddings, meetings, garden parties and performances, with the terms set by the custodian.