Rai Valley Cottage
Spot the Difference
Rai Valley Cottage
Spot the Difference
Māori have long occupied the once densely bushed Rai Valley. The Rai river provided them with a rich harvest of birds and eels.
When the valley was subdivided in 1881, Charles (1839-1912) and Matilda (nee McKenzie, 1848(9)-1930) Turner, from the neighbouring Te Hoiere/Pelorus Valley, purchased 50 acres of land for £151 10s in what later became the settlement of Carluke in Marlborough.
With the help of Charles's brother, Arthur (1848-1914), they cleared the bush and built the cottage well before the end of the year. For the next ten years they were the only Pākehā living in the valley.
The cottage was built of timber they'd cleared from the land. The framing and sarking was pitsawn and the wall cladding was vertical, hand-split, tōtara slabs. It had a shingle roof, also probably tōtara, and the chimney was built on a base of river boulders with a corrugated iron flue set within a timber frame.
Charles and Matilda sold the cottage and land in 1909 to Thomas (1857-1922) and Catherine (nee Mullane,1862-1943) Blanchett, who made additions to the cottage. Catherine sold the cottage to Malvina (nee Neal, 1894-1954) and Harold (1893-1972) Simpson in 1928. They not only converted the farm to sheep, but also the cottage into a shearing shed and a playhouse for their children.
The Simpsons sold to Woodrow Wilson (1913-83) in 1937, who converted the old cottage to a fowl house.
As the oldest building in the area and with its connection to early families, by the mid-1960s there was strong support amongst the community and Turner and other early descendants to restore the cottage and to turn it into a museum. So, in 1965 Woodrow and his wife Maroa (nee Patterson, 1917-87) set aside the cottage on a small piece of land as a private Historic Reserve.
The Rai Valley Pioneer Home Committee was established and between 1966 and 1969 was overseeing the restoration of the cottage to its original configuration, which involved significant repair and replacement and reconstruction.
A large proportion of the original cladding was in poor condition and was replaced with slabs from an old tōtara slab barn. Part of the cottage's shingle roof had been overlaid in the past with corrugated iron, and this was removed and the roof was re-shingled.
The reconstruction of the east end of the cottage included a fireplace and a corrugated iron chimney to match the original one. New wallpapers were hung in the interiors, with their design being inspired by the surviving fragments of earlier wallpapers. Turner furniture and ornaments along with many other period pieces from local people were returned to the cottage, and its interior was set up as a period museum.
Rai Valley Cottage kitchen. Grant Sheehan, 2016.
Rai Valley Cottage kitchen. Grant Sheehan, 2016.
The restored Rai Valley Cottage was formally opened in February 1969 with over 300 people attending, including many descendants of the original settler families.
Descendant, A.M. Neal (on the left) and Innes Simonsen (on the right) making speeches at the opening on the 15th February 1969. HNZPT, R.I.M. Burnett, 1969.
Descendant, A.M. Neal (on the left) and Innes Simonsen (on the right) making speeches at the opening on the 15th February 1969. HNZPT, R.I.M. Burnett, 1969.
Since December 1979 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (then New Zealand Historic Places Trust) has been responsible for the management of this Historic Reserve and keeping it open to the public.
Rai Valley Cottage is recognised as a Category 1 historic place. It is the oldest surviving building in the Rai Valley area and the home of the area's first Pākehā settlers.
Although much of the original fabric was replaced during the restoration, it still retains the authentic characteristics of the original building. Also, the restoration is symbolic of the very high social and commemorative value to the community as a memorial to their pioneer founders.
Māori have long occupied the once densely bushed Rai Valley. The Rai river provided them with a rich harvest of birds and eels.
When the valley was subdivided in 1881, Charles (1839-1912) and Matilda (nee McKenzie, 1848(9)-1930) Turner, from the neighbouring Te Hoiere/Pelorus Valley, purchased 50 acres of land for £151 10s in what later became the settlement of Carluke in Marlborough.
With the help of Charles's brother, Arthur (1848-1914), they cleared the bush and built the cottage well before the end of the year. For the next ten years they were the only Pākehā living in the valley.
The cottage was built of timber they'd cleared from the land. The framing and sarking was pitsawn and the wall cladding was vertical, hand-split, tōtara slabs. It had a shingle roof, also probably tōtara, and the chimney was built on a base of river boulders with a corrugated iron flue set within a timber frame.
Charles and Matilda sold the cottage and land in 1909 to Thomas (1857-1922) and Catherine (nee Mullane,1862-1943) Blanchett, who made additions to the cottage. Catherine sold the cottage to Malvina (nee Neal, 1894-1954) and Harold (1893-1972) Simpson in 1928. They not only converted the farm to sheep, but also the cottage into a shearing shed and a playhouse for their children.
The Simpsons sold to Woodrow Wilson (1913-83) in 1937, who converted the old cottage to a fowl house.
As the oldest building in the area and with its connection to early families, by the mid-1960s there was strong support amongst the community and Turner and other early descendants to restore the cottage and to turn it into a museum. So in 1965 Woodrow and his wife Maroa (nee Patterson, 1917-87) set aside the cottage on a small piece of land as a private Historic Reserve.
The Rai Valley Pioneer Home Committee was established and between 1966 and 1969 was overseeing the restoration of the cottage to its original configuration, which involved significant repair and replacement and reconstruction.
A large proportion of the original cladding was in poor condition and was replaced with slabs from an old tōtara slab barn. Part of the cottage's shingle roof had been overlaid in the past with corrugated iron, and this was removed and the roof was reshingled.
The reconstruction of east end of the cottage included a fireplace and a corrugated iron chimney to match the original one. New wallpapers were hung in the interiors, with their design being inspired by the surviving fragments of earlier wallpapers. Turner furniture and ornaments along with many other period pieces from local people were returned to the cottage, and its interior was set up as a period museum.
Rai Valley Cottage kitchen. Grant Sheehan, 2016.
Rai Valley Cottage kitchen. Grant Sheehan, 2016.
The restored Rai Valley Cottage was formally opened in February 1969 with over 300 people attending, including many descendants of the original settler families.
Descendant, A.M. Neal (on the left) and Innes Simonsen (on the right) making speeches at the opening on the 15th February 1969. HNZPT, R.I.M. Burnett, 1969.
Descendant, A.M. Neal (on the left) and Innes Simonsen (on the right) making speeches at the opening on the 15th February 1969. HNZPT, R.I.M. Burnett, 1969.
Since December 1979 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (then New Zealand Historic Places Trust) has been responsible for the management of this Historic Reserve and keeping it open to the public.
Rai Valley Cottage is recognised as a Category 1 historic place. It is the oldest surviving building in the Rai Valley area and the home of the area's first Pākehā settlers.
Although much of the original fabric was replaced during the restoration, it still retains the authentic characteristics of the original building. The restoration is symbolic of its very high social and commemorative value to the community as a memorial to their pioneer founders.
Given its significance and popularity as one of the most publicly-accessible examples of a slab cottage, it's vital that we regularly monitor its condition, undertake routine maintenance and make timely and well planned repairs.
Sometimes in order to overcome inherent weaknesses in the original building design and threats to heritage fabric we may have to make sensitive changes.
So let's show you some of the work we've undertaken since 1979 to care for this building.
We've reshingled the roof twice. The first time was in 1986. It was repaired in 1993-4, and the second time it was reshingled was in 2013. As part of this latter work, plywood sheeting was laid below the roof structure with building paper to improve weatherproofing (prevent leaks and staining) and provide structural strength.
Rai Valley Cottage being re-shingled with Cedar shakes in 2013. R Applerley, 2013.
Rai Valley Cottage being re-shingled with Cedar shakes in 2013. R Applerley, 2013.
A view of the corrugated iron chimney. Rai Valley Cottage, Grant Sheehan, 2016.
A view of the corrugated iron chimney. Rai Valley Cottage, Grant Sheehan, 2016.
This significant feature of the cottage has suffered some ups and downs. Since its reconstruction in the 1960s the chimney was rebuilt in 1981 after collapsing and has been repaired again in 1991 and 1996.
Because of the vertical slab construction, its unpainted surface and closeness to the ground, we added gutters and downpipes to get water off and away from the cottage as efficiently as possible. So it's even more important that we carefully monitor the efficiency of the gutters and downpipes to avoid them overflowing down or around the cottage. Unsurprisingly both reroofing projects (1986 and 2013) and smaller projects in between have included repairs, replacements and adjustments to the gutters and downpipes.
The hand-split tōtara slab cladding is a rare and distinguishing feature of a once commonplace construction technique in early Pākehā dwellings. As such, we've spent much time in the ongoing care and repair of this cladding.
In 2023, we carried out repairs and improvements to sub-floor structure. Click below to read more about this project.
We have continued to build and improve on the restoration work of the 60s. Because the cottage is built low to the ground, it has been very important to prevent water pooling and take it away from building. So we've continued to maintain, replace and improve ground drainage and added stormwater drainage as well. The gravel paths may not be an original feature, but help to keep the cottage dry. These are maintained to be free draining and at least 100mm below the bottom of the slab cladding and floor joists to avoid rot and maintain some sub-floor ventilation.
Visit Rai Valley Cottage
Opouri Road,
Carluke,
Rai Valley.
Opening arrangements
Opening days: 7 days a week, year round
Opening times: During daylight hours
Access: Viewing through windows and viewing portals
We couldn't care for Rai Valley Cottage and our other fantastic properties without your continued support.
Rai Valley Cottage. HNZPT, 2017.
Rai Valley Cottage. HNZPT, 2017.
You will note that we've been able use a number of fantastic photographs that Grant Sheehan took of Rai Valley Cottage for us. You can visit his website by clicking below.
Now how about trying the spot the difference?
There are 10 differences for you to spot between the original image on the left and the modified image on the right.
Image No.1 (original)
Image No.2 (variation)
Now how about trying the spot the difference?
There are 10 differences for you to spot between the original image on the top and the modified image on the bottom.
Built with Shorthand