DRUMMOYNE HOUSE
PARUA BAY
The house is situated on the lower left
of Darkies Hill, about one kilometre on
the Whangarei Heads side of the Parua Bay Marina.
DESCRIPTION: The house is classic colonial in style
with little ornamentation other than
the 'union iack' verandah rails. Wide verandahs grace
three sides of the house with double doors opening on
to them to extend the amenity of the living space.
It is on an elevated and clear site, giving wide
views of Parua Bay and across to the harbour far
shores. The property covers 25 hectares of farmland
with lush valleys bordering the Kohinui Stream and
leading into steep slopes of native bush.
Although the homestead cannot be completely
seen from the road, the atmosphere of this much loved
and cared for land can be felt from glimpses of it
through the trees by the hill road — beautified with
carefully tended shrubs along its side of protected
native bush reserves that extend for a few hundred
metres along Owhiwa Road, the first left turning at
the top of Darkies Hill, from where can be seen a
LOCATION:
panoramic view of the entire bay, all of the farm and
most of the harbour beyond the bay.
HISTORY: The land on which the house is situated is
part of the Waikawau Block, which, in
1872, was sold by its Maori owner Horomona
(Solomon) Kaikou to James lrwin Wilson, the well
known early surveyor.
The original house was built for Thomas Allwood
in 1883, and had been much modified and added to
before being purchased by the present owners in 1971.
Their restoration plan — prepared by the
Auckland architect L.F. Hodgkinson — removed most of
the additions, retained the essential core of the original
house and new work was kept as close as possible to
the style of 1883.
The present owners named Drummoyne after a
Scottish farm with close family associations attached to
it dating from the 1840's. The Lanarkshire original
farm was long ago absorbed into the city of
Glasgow.
Research by l)on Rae.
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