Reviews
A café in a beautiful big old Victorian-Edwardian Villa at the eastern end of Grafton Bridge. Hum once housed the Salvation Army and one can only imagine the many 100's of people it once housed over years gone by. HNZC have purchased it from the Auckland Council and it has been designated a Heritage building. All coffee takings go towards the restoration of the building. Eventually this magnificent example of Victorian architecture will be transformed into a Restaurant, Cafe, Deli, Bar, with Boutique Gardens, Music and Arts space for all to share in. Pop in and say hello to William (he's the gorgeous tall, blue eyed one)
I used to work in Newmarket and walk home to my city pad via Grafton, so Hum was always a point of interest. What attracted me most was the general relaxed vibe of the place, not to mention the couches out on the lawn. A really cool use of a gorgeous old villa, I'm glad I dropped by one night at 11pm after shift and struck up a conversation with the proprietors as they were sat outside painting the shed and sharing beers. Not only did I end up painting the shed with them but I learned all about what Hum is and why it's so important. An interesting fact to note - Hum is run by volunteers. This is a really cool idea. They get paid in accommodation and food, and just general love for the job. Ruby is a cool chick who I have shared many scintillating conversations with out on those kitsch lawn chairs. I love the idea of running purely on the currency of goodwill and whilst for the most part it doesn't exactly fit with the necessity of 'capitalism' as we know it, it definitely works for Hum. Pop on by and see the sign painted by yours truly ;)
Comment by Juleabout 12 years ago
Sounds interesting, but what is this place? What do they do?
Comment by Zinnie L.about 12 years ago
It's a coffee shop that, as far as I know, is being renovated into a fully organic/vegetarian co-operative restaurant/shared space. Definitely go check it out. Good coffee from Kokako. Couches on the lawn!
