Mount View Lunatic Asylum

The Mount View Lunatic Asylum (alternates: Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View Asylum) was a psychiatric hospital located on 113 acres (46 ha) in Wellington, New Zealand. Government House is located on what were the asylum grounds. Work began in 1872, and the hospital opened in 1873 to accommodate 100 patients in an area above Basin Reserve. It replaced Karori Lunatic Asylum, the first asylum in the country. An expansion was required soon after it opened to accommodate more patients so that by 1880, a two-story wooden structure was enlarged with two wings, doubling the institution's capacity. Around 1885, two additional wards were constructed. By 1905, there were 250 patients but within the next five years, they were transferred to Porirua Lunatic Asylum and other asylums, before Mount View's closure in 1910.