Past owners Liz (left) and Max Patmoy, with their dog Klaus, and recent resident and business owner Katrina Harris. Photo / Paul Taylor
Past owners Liz (left) and Max Patmoy, with their dog Klaus, and recent resident and business owner Katrina Harris. Photo / Paul Taylor
A red barn stands amid silt and rocks in a now desolate part of Eskdale.
For motorists passing by on State Highway 5, there are few clues as to its colourful history.
At the turn of the century, the property north of Napier boasted a sprawling lavender farm which attractedbusloads of tourists, including for Art Deco Festivals, and it later became a doggy daycare amid “perfect” surroundings.
Now, it is a reminder of the damage of Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.
“You used to be able to smell it from about 2km away,” former owner Max Patmoy said of his and his wife’s iconic Whitebay lavender farm.
They bought that 2ha property on State Highway 5 in 1990 which, at the time, was just a house surrounded by farmland (across the road from what would become Hukarere Girls’ College).
Over the coming years they added a large barn, kennels for breeding dogs, a stunning lavender farm and a cafe.
“It was the largest lavender farm in the country at that stage,” Max said.
They planted 23,000 lavender plants and the barn was used as a shop and distillery - for making hundreds of litres of lavender oil each year - flanked by a large marquee, where they housed guests and a cafe.
The well-known property in Eskdale has changed drastically over the decades. Photo / Paul Taylor
“It was a real touristy thing, the tour buses used to come out and unload all the nice tourists.”
Max and wife Liz said they had great memories from those years including hosting Art Deco events.
“They would bring out all the vintage cars - which was good,” Max, well-known at Art Deco Festivals for his Charlie Chaplin impersonations, said.
“We [also] sponsored Winter Art Deco, we were one of the two or three motivators to get Winter Art Deco going.”
He said “it’s very sad” to see the stark change now to their old property, after the cyclone.
Liz said she remembered people driving past on SH5 and slowing down to take in the sights and smells.
“People used to wind their windows down when they went past when it was all in bloom.”
A child plays in the lavender farm in 2003. Photo / Sarah Bicknell
The lavender farm was eventually removed and the property changed hands a couple of times in the 2010s.
Katrina Harris’ family bought it in 2019, establishing Doggy Daycare - adding a daycare centre for about 30 dogs to complement the existing kennels.
“It was going really, really well and then the cyclone hit,” she said, adding the daycare centre was completely washed away.
Fortunately, no dogs were in the daycare during the floods and only six dogs were in the kennels, which were rescued and moved into the nearby home.
There were five people in Harris and husband John’s house during the floods, as well as nine dogs, all of whom survived despite floodwaters reaching near neck height.
No one lives on the property now. It was deemed Category 3 after the floods, and the home was demolished a few weeks ago as part of the Category 3 buyout process.
“It just changed overnight,” she said, of the landscape now.
“We had it so perfect and beautiful, it was park-like grounds.
“It is just very ugly [now] and it is sad. We were only there three and a half years but Max and Liz, they grew that.”
Harris has since started a dog walking business in Napier, Doggy Treks, and her family are moving on with their lives.
Harris’ sister owns most of the land at the Eskdale property, apart from around the demolished home (which is owned by the council), and is unsure what to do with it in future - including the eye-catching red barn.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
