An aerial view of Birdwoods in Hawke’s Bay.
Birdwoods, near Havelock North Village, features a gallery, sculpture garden, café and old-fashioned sweet shop. Kem Ormond goes behind the scenes to learn the history of this unique business and the family that created it.
Located in the country, just 10 minutes from the Havelock North village in Hawke’s Bay, you will find Birdwoods.
This is a fascinating and unique business that has an equally unique story.
Both from third-generation Zimbabwean agricultural families, Birdwood’s founders, Bruce and Louise Stobart, began their married life on a farm in Africa.
In 1991, Louise started a business designing and creating metal birds from recycled oil drums on their commercial cropping farm in the Mazowe district of Zimbabwe.
This venture quickly grew into an extraordinarily successful export enterprise, with Louise’s metal birds being shipped all over the world.
However, in 2003, political turmoil in Zimbabwe led to them having to make big decisions for the sake of themselves and their family.
They emigrated to New Zealand in 2004 with their three young children, Jack, Sophie, and Harry and purchased 10 hectares of bare land on the outskirts of Havelock North.
This was to be a huge change for all the family, especially for Bruce, who knew nothing except farming, including having been a Nuffield Scholar, but was happy to be part of Louise’s vision.
Despite the setbacks, the Stobarts and their Birdwoods spirit and creativity did not wane, paving the way for new beginnings. Out of the turmoil, Birdwoods New Zealand was born.
This year, they celebrate 20 years in business and over this time, Birdwoods has grown substantially from a bare paddock to one of Hawke’s Bay’s most popular and award-winning destinations, attracting over 80,000 visitors each year.
It offers a large and beautiful gallery, extensive and well-tended sculpture gardens, a popular garden restaurant café, a much-loved old-fashioned sweet shop, and a summer ice cream shop.
It is both a destination and an experience that is enjoyed by customers celebrating birthdays, baby showers and anniversaries.
But there is more to the Birdwoods story, and despite many challenges over the years, the Stobarts have remained true to their core values of supporting artists from Zimbabwe and locally.
The gallery was the first building to be erected and was originally a church hall in Waipawa.
It had been damaged by a falling tree and they managed to save it from demolition.
As the property developed over the years, they managed to procure a patchwork of building materials from the old maternity hospital wing at Napier Hospital and the little sweet shop was constructed.
In 2019, on their annual buying trip to Africa, Louise and Bruce were joined by their eldest son, Jack, who, like his parents, fell in love with the continent and the talented artisans who live and work there.
Jack stayed on to do a full-immersion stone sculpting apprenticeship under the tutelage of the renowned Zimbabwean sculptors.
In 2020, amid the pandemic, Birdwoods Arrowtown was opened by Jack, and continues to flourish.
Louise and Bruce travel back to Africa most years to select textiles, artwork, craft work and importantly, stone and metal sculpture, like the birds Louise started with 20 years ago.
More recently, purchasing for the Havelock North Gallery has taken a turn towards more sustainable purchasing, with a smaller footprint and buying both from Zimbabwe and locally.
“Times are changing, and we must adapt with them,” Louise said.
“Customers are wanting an experience, and with that in mind, we are looking to next winter adding an open fire back into the gallery, and by having a more selected range of products for sale, we will have more room for seating inside in the cooler months.
“It can be hard to explain what you will find at Birdwoods because we have such a varied and unusual range of treasure across two locations.”
It all has one unifying feature, as everything at Birdwoods has a story.
“For almost everything we have here, we’ve met or know the person who created it, whether that was in Africa, here in New Zealand or from foreign lands past.
“We are committed to trading fairly and respectfully with absolutely everyone.
“So please do ask for the story behind the treasures you find here at Birdwoods – because everything has one!”
One story is the ostriches at Birdwoods, whi ch survived Cyclone Gabrielle as chicks and now have their own TikTok channel.
Strongly supported by the local community and a loyal, diverse team of people who believe in the Birdwoods story and love being part of the authentic and bold journey it is on, Louise and Bruce are confident the story will continue.