Whitford: A helping hand for history

Developer Doug Sherning with a piece of history.

A developer and a local family worked together to save an historic cottage which was sitting abandoned on a new subdivision, writes Graham Hepburn.

Griggs Rd Subdivision Stage II, Whitford.

In an unusual twist, the march of progress has helped to save a piece of Whitford history.

Ambrose Trust Cottage, set back from Whitford Road, had been abandoned for decades and was rotting from ground level up. It probably would have been left to deteriorate unnoticed, except its fate became an issue when the land it stood on was proposed for subdivision.

The cottage is named after Ambrose Trust, an English migrant, who farmed the surrounding land and who had two sons killed by Maori raiders on the property in the 1860s during the land wars.

Doug Sherning, the spokesman for developers Perrin Properties, says: "Because the property had a historical tag on it we looked at restoring it but it was too far gone. It had been derelict for 20 to 25 years and cattle had been into it.

"We had to get resource consent to demolish it, which we did. There was a lot of feeling in the community about what was going on. I think the community felt that if it couldn't be kept there, they wanted it kept within the district."

But getting someone to take the project on was another matter, until local architect Peter Diprose and his family stepped in. They removed the cottage from the site and are going to rebuild it on the family farm in Whitford.

"We took it apart wall by wall," Diprose says. "We took all the decoration off and the windows out that we could save. The lean-tos were absolutely shot.

"Most of it is sitting in the barn. It's been a bit like building the Endeavour. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll have it clad and re-lined."

Diprose says his mother, who has dealt in antiques and has a keen interest in the area's history, felt the rundown cottage was a valuable piece of Whitford's past.

"To me it's better to have historical buildings in their context than out of it," he says. "But it's better to have it than not have it at all."

Diprose says the building will be restored as faithfully as possible but probably won't get much use when finished.

"We've already got three buildings on the farm so this is pretty much just something to look at. Basically it's being rebuilt as a garden folly. It's not being built to live in."

The land the cottage was on is part of the Griggs Road subdivision, which takes in 30ha and potentially could contain 15 sites. Five were released in stage I, seven in stage II and Perrin Properties is considering two or three more for stage III. Planning laws stipulate the subdivision sites must average 2ha but can be as small as 1ha. The gently sloping sections have covenants that rule out temporary or relocated housing, and also prevent the sites being used for home industry.

Sherning says the native bush that forms a backdrop to the sections has a covenant on it and has been fenced off to prevent animal damage. And Perrin has to plant out natives on the banks and maintain them for three years.

The building sites, which have post and rail fencing, will be connected for power and telephone but the purchasers must take care of sewerage and water supply.

And rather than lay claim to living in the rather bleak-sounding Griggs Road Subdivision Stage II, residents will actually be living on Ambrose Trust Lane - a much more inviting prospect.

Sherning says not only will the road be renamed but a plaque will be erected at the beginning of the lane to record the history of the site. So, in Ambrose Trust Lane, history and progress go hand-in-hand.

Vital Statistics

SECTION SIZES: 1ha to 1.81ha.

PRICE RANGE: $595,000-$1.1 million.

INSPECT: Sunday 1-3pm.

CONTACT: Victor Rose or Julie Parmenter, Barfoot & Thompson Whitford, ph 530 8292 bus. Victor ph 0274 944 954 mob, 530 8233 a/h, Julie ph 027 598 2210 mob, 530 8133 a/h.

FEATURES: Gently sloping land with mature bush backdrop. Fenced sections with power and telephone connected. Security gates.