History

In 2001 Sue & Richard purchased “Matua” as it was known, from a local farmer and business woman.

In the 1800s the whole bay was covered in magnificent native forests. These were felled to provide timber for the burgeoning city of Christchurch. The site of the first water powered sawmill in Canterbury is just down the road.

“Matua”, after being cleared of trees, became the homestead for adjacent farmland growing cocksfoot seed followed by dairying. Remains of a series of dams and weirs for running milking equipment and the old dairy shed are still visible in the garden.

One of these dams has created a pond where local legend has it that during the 1940s the then master of the guesthouse cavorted with guests while his wife worked very hard washing, cooking and cleaning. Fortunately, the current host is not at all likely to cavort in the pond that is now home to ducks and native fish.

Over time “Matua” became separated from its farm land. When the previous owner decided to build on the farm higher up the valley this paved the way for “Matua” to again become a guesthouse albeit in a vastly different form to its predecessor.