Historic cottage resists tide of progress

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

A 95-year-old bach sitting pretty under the benign shadow of Mt Maunganui has almost been swamped by a surge of high-rise buildings.

But the historic Adams Cottage, home to the Young family for 15 years, is not washed up yet.

Developers have all but given up knocking at the door because Bill and Marian Young have no plans to move house.

They bought the seaside resort's oldest holiday home for $220,000 in 1986 and guess the 1100 sq m section, which could hold more than 20 units, would now be worth $1 million-plus.

"But that isn't really important if you are not looking to sell," says Mrs Young, who has lived all her life at the Mount and loves it.

The couple left a large, comfortable home to buy the Adams Ave property as an investment, then "fell in love with it" and took up residence with their two children.

Two years later, plans were drawn up for a block of units on the prime real estate site. They did not want the house lost to Mt Maunganui, so it was to have been moved across the road to become a honeymoon retreat above the council-owned Domain motor camp.

But the Youngs were loath to leave their cottage and shelved the idea, concentrating instead on their local timber mill business.

The front of the quaint green-and-white-painted house looks out to Mauao (the Mount) and Pilot Bay, a stone's throw away. On the other boundaries, lofty apartment blocks tower over it, but a magnificent pohutukawa tree in the backyard gives shelter and privacy to a large timber deck the Youngs have added.

The solid kauri cottage was built in 1906, when there were few if any permanent residents at Mt Maunganui. A holiday retreat for former Tauranga Mayor John Cuthbert Adams, the site was in sharp contrast to the bustling, traffic-choked neighbourhood of today.

Mr Adams' son, Lionel, lived there until 1976, when the new owner, Gordon Farrelly senior, moved in and turned the adjacent two-storey, barn-style building into a museum, which the Youngs have converted into a garage and bedrooms.

The house has a Historic Places Trust B classification and is on the Tauranga District Council's heritage register.

The Youngs lifted carpet and stripped wallpaper to restore the cottage's original kauri timber.

They removed a wall between the two tiny bedrooms, did up the kitchen and bathroom, and added a dining room in keeping with the original structure.

A builder by trade, Mr Young says the "funny wee house" is basically board and batten on top of kauri, built on a base of rocks. With no insulation, it can be drafty in winter, and the open fireplace in the front sitting room is still used.

Standing firm against the tide of progress, the cottage is a drawcard for tourists and wedding pictures.