KEY POINTS:
Disappointed tourists keep coming into Joji Katon's Bluff dairy wanting to know why the town's Paua House is closed.
Mrs Katon does not want to tell them the truth about the controversy that has left the house locked up, the paua shell collection gone, a family locked in
a bitter feud and the owner, Ross Bowen, holed up inside.
"I just tell them he is renovating - it's the only thing I can say. People come from all over the world to see the house."
Like most of the 1800 or so residents of the seaside township at the southern tip of the mainland, Mrs Katon is angry at what has become of their local treasure - and with Mr Bowen.
"He might come in sometimes and a buy some chocolate or something like that but it's different. He's a different person."
From the outside, the Paua House where Fred and Myrtle Flutey once lived and hosted daily visitors, appears unchanged. Just a stone's throw from the ocean and set against the backdrop of Bluff Hill, the property's well-kept front lawn has pebble paths, concrete fountains and figurines as well as large sculptures of a paua shell and a moa.
It is not until you cast your eye next door that you get a hint of the depth of feeling over the house.
A placard stuck in the neighbours' front lawn reads: "RIP Fred and Myrtle's paua shell House thanks to there (sic) granson (sic) Ross Bowen who has just killed there (sic) dreams."
Mr Bowen, with his mother, Marie, stripped the hundreds of paua shells from the walls and sent them out of town under the cover of darkness to an unknown location many believe to be in Dunedin. He has told family members he is communicating with his late grandfather over his plans for the shell collection.
Next door, Bruce and Gloria Henderson do not bother to hide their hostility towards their nephew and neighbour over what he has done.
"He's just kicked his grandparents in the guts - it's that simple," Mr Henderson says. "He's got a bloody cheek coming back after what he has done."
Mrs Henderson lived with her husband for 7 1/2 years at the paua house, caring for her elderly parents and keeping the place open to the throngs of visitors wanting to see the collection that lined the walls.
Before caring for them, her parents had been living on cheese and crackers and Mr Flutey's legs were covered in ulcers.
"When we first went down [Fred and Myrtle] used to look after the visitors because that's what kept them going. I would do the cooking, the gardening and the cleaning," Mrs Henderson says.
"Dad was known for his storytelling and mum was known for her hospitality."
Mrs Flutey died in May 2000 and Mr Flutey followed 16 months later. But before Mr Flutey died, he made it clear he wanted the paua house and collection to stay intact for visitors to enjoy.
"I think he realised just before he died we wouldn't be able to stay there," Mrs Henderson says.
Mr Bowen, who bought the house and collection from a Flutey family trust two years ago, spoke of plans to shift the shell collection to Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
However, the museum has distanced itself from the controversy, saying it would prefer it stay in Bluff.
Mr Bowen's intentions are now unclear. Many locals fear he will try to take the collection with him to his hometown of Perth, although Customs restrictions are believed to prevent this.
Rex Powley, chairman of the Bluff Community Board and a longtime friend of the Fluteys, tried everything to keep the paua house intact and says people are lining up to give cash to help. "Everything that is happening now is completely contrary to what Fred wanted."
Mr Powley likens the removal of the shell collection to sacrilege.
"After all, what meaning have they got when you take them away? It's just a heap of shells. You can't recreate that anywhere else and have any meaning."
Mr Powley said a lot of the paua house collection was given on the understanding it would stay in Bluff.
"At the time that most of those deals were done, it was a shake of the hand. That has always been binding - in this part of the world anyway."
One of those who gave shells is Invercargill sealife enthusiast Taffy Hook.
Mr Hook gave hundreds of pieces, mostly shells, to the house after he could find no other suitable place to display them.
He handed them over to Fred Flutey "and the agreement was that they would always be on display and it would stay in Southland".
Mr Taffy is saddened to see that shells he spent 30 years collecting may now be lost from the region forever.
"An agreement is an agreement as far as I'm concerned."
