Ohinetahi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ohinetahi |
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Ōhinetahi
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Ohinetahi Homestead in 2005
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| General information | |
| Type | Homestead |
| Location | Governors Bay |
| Address | Main Road |
| Town or city | Lyttelton |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°38′06″S 172°38′46″E / 43.6351°S 172.6462°E |
| Completed | 1867 |
| Owner | Sir Miles Warren |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | two |
| Designated: | 28 June 1990 |
| Reference #: | 3349 |
Ōhinetahi (which means "The Place of One Daughter") is a special valley, an old homestead (a large house with land), and a beautiful formal garden. It's located on Teddington Road in Governors Bay, near Christchurch in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand. The Ōhinetahi valley sits at the very top of Lyttelton Harbour, with the Port Hills rising high above it.
The Ōhinetahi Homestead is a very important historic building in Governors Bay. However, the formal garden at Ōhinetahi is considered one of the best in all of New Zealand. Famous past owners include William Sefton Moorhouse, an early Canterbury pioneer, and Thomas Potts, who was one of New Zealand's first people to care deeply about nature. Sir Miles Warren, a famous architect who designed the Christchurch Town Hall, was the last private owner. He generously gave Ōhinetahi to New Zealand so everyone can enjoy it.
Contents
The Name Ōhinetahi
This place was once a strong Māori pā (a fortified village) belonging to the Kāti Māmoe tribe. About 300 years ago, it was taken over by Te Rakiwhakaputa from the Ngāi Tahu tribe.
After the pā was captured, Manuhiri, who was Te Rakiwhakaputa's son, lived there. He had many sons and one daughter. The pā was named after this daughter, giving us the name Ōhinetahi.
History of Ohinetahi
Early Owners and Changes
The first European person to own this land was Christopher Alderson Calvert. He was a lawyer who bought the land in 1852. He had a small, one-room cottage built in Lyttelton. This cottage was then taken apart, moved by boat, and carried up to the site.
He called his new home Rosemary Cottage. But when he asked local Māori for a name, they suggested Ōhinetahi, and he loved it. Several other owners followed quickly after him. Then, William Sefton Moorhouse bought the property in the mid-1850s. Moorhouse built a much bigger house, either by adding to the cottage or building a new one entirely.
In 1858, Moorhouse sold the whole 255-acre property to Thomas Potts. Potts then bought even more land around it, making the property 572 acres in total. It stretched all the way to the seashore at Governors Bay and included land along the main road and even Quail Island. Between 1863 and 1867, Potts changed the house again. He took the existing house apart and built a three-story stone building in the middle of the two wooden sections.
Potts was one of New Zealand's first people to focus on protecting nature. In 1865, he started a large garden on the property. It had a vegetable garden and an orchard. He also planted many different trees like araucarias, oaks, and walnuts. He got advice on these trees from a friend at Kew Gardens in England. Two of his original trees, a quince and a variegated elm, are still there today. After Potts passed away in 1888, the garden was not looked after for a long time. It mostly became just a lawn around the house.
The large property was sold again in 1896 to William Cook. He sold off some parts of the land. When Cook died, the property was divided again. Eventually, in 1946, the house and the 9 acres around it were bought by Basil Quaife. He later sold it to Herbert Ensor in 1952.
Sir Miles Warren and the Garden's Rebirth
In the mid-1970s, John and Pauline Trengrove, along with Pauline's brother, Sir Miles Warren, decided they wanted to create a big garden together. They looked for a good spot and eventually heard that Ohinetahi was for sale. They bought it for $100,000.
Before they moved in, the three new owners went on a six-week trip to England. They visited many famous gardens to get ideas for their own. They wanted to make Ohinetahi's garden truly special. First, they carefully fixed up the old stone house. Then, in 1977, they started working on the garden we see today.
After about ten years, John and Pauline decided to build a new house and garden somewhere else. To help them, Miles Warren bought their share of Ohinetahi. This made him the only owner of the property.
In the years that followed, two small art galleries were built on the property. A small cottage for the housekeeper was also added. One gallery displays artworks by famous New Zealand artists. The other gallery shows models and photos of buildings designed by Warren's architecture company, Warren & Mahoney.
The main house was badly damaged by the 2010 Canterbury earthquake in September 2010. The stone walls of the three-story part cracked badly, and the four gables (the triangular parts of the roof) fell down. Because of this, they decided to make the central part of the house two stories instead of three. They also made the house much stronger against earthquakes. The ground floor was rebuilt with strong stone, and the first floor was made with a new timber frame. The art gallery building was not damaged structurally, but its outside stone walls cracked and had to be rebuilt. Then, it was damaged again by another earthquake in February 2011.
After Mrs. Ensor passed away in 2008, Miles Warren was able to buy a strip of land from her family. This allowed Ohinetahi to grow closer to the harbour. Terraces (flat areas built into a slope) were made on this new land. They used stone that had been removed from the upper story of the house during its earthquake repairs.
Recently, several large, modern sculptures by well-known New Zealand artists have been placed in both the park and the garden. The housekeeper's cottage has also been turned into a tearoom where visitors can relax.
In 2012, Miles Warren gave the homestead, gardens, and money to the Ohinetahi Charitable Trust. This was to make sure that the property and everything in it would be kept safe and open for everyone to enjoy in the future. In February 2017, a big fire on the Port Hills came very close to the house. It was only 300 to 400 meters away, covering the property with ash.
Garden Design
The woodland around the house is well-planned, with lovely views looking down to the harbour. Ōhinetahi uses the idea of "rooms" to create different areas in the garden. The terraced garden is divided into groups of plants. Hedges protect plants that don't do well in strong winds.
The garden is known for its herb potager (a kitchen garden that is also beautiful), a rose garden with boxwood edges, and borders filled with many different flowering plants. Other parts of this English-style garden include a Red Garden (which used to be white), a special curved gazebo, a pond, a bridge, statues, and sculptures made of stone and metal. There's also a wall made of Oamaru stone. The main lawn is in front of the house, which has colonial verandas with arches. A stream flows from the garden all the way down to the harbour.
Plants at Ohinetahi
The plants at Ohinetahi include Black Locust trees, which provide shade. There's also a hedge made of Monterey Cypress trees. You'll find many rhododendrons, camellias, and Buxus (boxwood) plants. Thomas Potts tried to introduce different grasses, but he found that Poa grass was very hard to get rid of.
Awards and Recognition
Ohinetahi has received the Garden of Distinction and Garden of Excellence awards. The homestead is officially recognized as a Category I heritage building by Heritage New Zealand. This means it is a place of great historical importance.
