The Y.W.C.A Office was formally the home of Mrs Parr

The Former Mrs Parr's house is today used as a central focal point for YWCA administration and activities, as well as a continued use as a hostel. Much of the exterior and interior is intact from the 1910s and 1920s period. The main changes have been filling in the verandahs (rear and front), the loss of chimney and the lost of the front entrance and the Lily pond courtyard. The three main periods of use are clearly evident. It forms part of a much larger complex which is strongly associated as the YWCA in Hamilton.

The significance of the Former Mrs Parr's House is determined using Criteria for Determining Significance of Cultural Heritage Resources.

The criteria includes the following:

1. Mrs Parr's house is a hidden architectural gem that to a great extent, more than other places in Hamilton, reflects important aspects of Waikato history, in women's role in society, in the development of a regional church and in the development of the YWCA in the Waikato. There is no other place like this in Hamilton, that so clearly is representation of a long term women's history.
2. Lily Parr's House is not currently associated with her, but does represent a significant role she played in owning and building the home. The Parr family were early Hamilton settlers , and were prominent in Hamilton until the late 1920s. The next association, stilll current to some, is as Bishop's Court-the official residence of Bishop Cherrington in the 1930s and 1940s, and to Bishop Cherrington as an important person in the development of the Waikato Anglican Diocese. From the 1950s to current day the place is significant in terms of Waikato history for girls and young women, as a focus of activities, leadership and as a home away from home. The development of independent thinking women, and the history of the YWCA movement, is a siginificant part of the history of the place, and follows through from the 1910s onwards.
3. There is great potential for the place to provide knowledge of Waikato history in both women's stories, the growth of the Anglican church in the 1930s , and the success of the YWCA over the last fifty years. Many women, over generations associate this place with the YWCA.
4. The importance of the place to tangata whenua has not been addressed. It is not know to be a site used in the early days.
5. The House now known as the YWCA is held in high esteem by the local community, and by those who have passed through the house. It is also recognised by older members of the community as Bishop's Court. Significantly the house was identified in the 1997 Waikato Heritage Study as a place of local significance, particularly in association with the Architect Daniell, along with the former chapel. It was put forward for inclusion in the Hamilton City Council Heritage Register.
6. The design and construction of the Parr House has potential for public education on the design of early concrete houses in the Waikato. Importantly there is also the potential to tell the three different stories of the place, in terms of women's history, as a unique part of the place.
7. The design of the house is unusual for the time, along with the use of reinforced concrete. It is an excellent example of F.C. Daniell's work. The original use of an arched verandah and the rear central courtyard with piazza and Lily Pond are of particular interest.
8. There are three main areas of commerative value associated with this place-firstly the role of women in its ownership, secondly the period of use as Bishop's Court, and thirdly as the central focus of Waikato YWCA activities since the early 1950s.
9. This place, its siting, the tree on the corner, date from the 1911 period, which in terms of Hamilton was one of the biggest growth periods in the early development of the town.
10. The house has some rarity in terms of design and construction, although the Architect Daniell did produce a number of concrete houses. It is however one of his earliest, and may have also been constructed by his company. There is no known house in Hamilton of sinmiliar design, that survives today, particularly with arched verandah, and the now lost courtyard.
11. The House is still today part of its original site although the gardens have been lost. The tree on the corner of Clarence and Pembroke Street is the surviving heritage item of the original property. It, with the former Chapel, still today is distinctive and part of a site that shows the transition from a small town to a city, with buildings in the 1960s onwards being of commercial scale, wraps on the edges and rear of the original site. The site is very prominent driving south out of the city, with the house and tree above the road view. The house shows a residential land pattern which is rapidly disappearing as the central city reaches the old town boundary, and the houses of the early twentieth century are lost in this area.
12. The House today is very similar externally and internally the house in the 1910s. The changes that have been made such as the closing in of the verandah, and some internal room changes are clearly evident within the original structure. The condition of the building is excellent for its age and construction type, particularly externally.