By PHILIP ENGLISH
Treasure troves
Twenty-five years ago a decaying but important piece of Waitakere history was destined for destruction.
Officials had decreed that the rough kauri cottage built about 130 to 145 years ago was an untidy shack and had to go.
But visionary locals stepped in and the cottage built by early settlers is now home to the Oratia Folk Museum, a window on life more than a century ago.
Oratia residents Dave and Barbara Harre saved the cottage from an official burning, moved it to their land, restored it and installed a sprinkler system to protect it from the end to which it was once destined.
The cottage, tended by a committee of enthusiasts and now on the site of West Auckland's first nursery in 1853, is hidden from busy West Coast Rd and the inevitable advance of growing Auckland.
"Finding it is half the fun and it is more or less like it would have been last century, I am sure," said Mr Harre.
"It is totally shrouded by trees and shrubs and things."
Of immediate charm is the garden around the cottage.
Based on a settler's garden, it contains plants of a bygone era: rambling roses, lilies, daisies, nasturtium, scented tobacco and old apple varieties.
A large rimu and old persimmon and wild plum trees surround the cottage.
It was possibly built by an orchardist, a Mr Parker, or by Terence Donnelly, an Irish-born weaver and soldier who lived and farmed in Oratia until his death in 1889 aged 79.
"The big thing about this place is that it is less of a museum - the building itself is significant," said Mr Harre. "The whole form of the house is based on proportion, not decoration.
"It is reminiscent of workers' cottages in northern England."
Downstairs is a parlour and bedroom. Across the back runs a long room containing a wood-fired cooking range and a scullery.
A narrow staircase leads to two more bedrooms under the steep shingle roof.
Over the years, locals have contributed artefacts to the museum, building an extensive collection.
But Mr Harre's dream is that one day the cottage will be furnished as though someone - a resident from last century - has just popped out for a moment.
He wants the building to have a sense of the Mary Celeste, the brigantine found abandoned at sea, but in perfect condition, in 1872.
"We want to restore and maintain it as a house of its time, not back to brand new. Its dents, creaks and groans have all been left. Even a bit of dirt around is important, I reckon.
"There's a tendency in New Zealand to restore the buildings of the great and powerful, whereas this is about working-class people and how they lived."
The Harres live behind the cottage in the 1879 Parr family homestead. Nearby is the Oratia Cemetery and the recently restored former Jewish prayer house.
Entry to the prayer house, which is also the responsibility of the folk museum committee, can be gained by asking for the key at the cottage.
Hidden cottage a window to the past
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