ROSE HARDING An historic Waipukurau farm (pictured) sold at auction yesterday for $9 million. Mangatarata Station, on Waipukurau's eastern outskirts was bought by Mike and Erica Barham who last week sold their Onepoto Station at Tikokino to neighbouring Smedley Station for $11.5 million. The 1020ha Mangatarata Station was owned by the McDonald familyand was established in 1851 by Donald Gollan. It is a sheep and beef breeding and finishing property with a carrying capacity of 10,000 stock units. Wrightson Real Estate agent Tiki Marra, who sold the farm, said that although the rateable value was $5.6 million, the $9 million was what they were expecting. He said Mangatarata was well-presented for sale. "There wasn't a thistle on the place." Mangatarata was taken up by Scotsman Mr Gollan in 1851 and is one of the original five stations around Waipukurau. At its peak, the station was 12,141ha. It was inherited by Donald's son Spencer, in 1887. However, Spencer Gollan spent most of his life overseas playing golf and racing horses and left the running of the farm to his half-brother, Louis de Pelichet. In 1908, 5000ha were sold to the McDonald family. It has been farmed by various members of that family since. A feature of the farm is the Victorian homestead, built of native timbers and carefully maintained.
