NZ Visual Diary - entry 173
The Birdcage Tavern (formerly the Rob Roy Hotel)
Located at the corner of Victoria Street and Franklin Road, the Birdcage Tavern is an impressive Italianate style structure. Built in 1885-86 as the Rob Roy Hotel, the building is an architectural anchor on the southern boundary of Victoria Park in Auckland’s city centre. The building has been designated an historic place by Heritage New Zealand.
Heritage New Zealand lauds the building’s provenance and history:
Erected in 1885-6, the former Rob Roy Hotel is a visually impressive urban corner pub designed by the noted Auckland architectural firm Edward Mahoney and Sons. Located in the traditionally working-class suburb of Freemans Bay, the ornate brick building is a local landmark and has been has been in almost continuous use as a public house for more than 125 years.
Waiatarau (Freemans Bay) was traditionally used by Maori for settlement, fishing and trading. After the founding of colonial Auckland in 1840, the area became an important centre for industrial activity. Initially purchased from the Crown in 1853, the site of the former Rob Roy Hotel was located on the foreshore of Freemans Bay until reclamation of the bay commenced in the 1870s.
Samuel Jagger purchased the vacant site in 1885 and commissioned the construction of a hotel to replace a nearby public house. The Rob Roy Hotel was erected towards the end of a hotel construction boom in central Auckland that followed more stringent requirements introduced under the Liquor Licensing Act 1881.1
I particularly like the corner-placed oriel window on the upper storey of the building.
The Birdcage Tavern is a major events centre in the Freemans Bay district.
Heritage New Zealand - Rob Roy Hotel <https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/636/Rob-Roy-Hotel-Former#details>