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Adela Stewart’s book, ‘My Simple Life in New Zealand’, was a
valuable resource for the homestead’s restoration team. The book
is not only a comprehensive diary of their time at Athenree, Adela’s
diary also recounts hundreds of plant varieties with notes that give
an indication of the produce from their farm: 700 tomato plants
grown from seed, and 3500 cabbage heads were a few of the items
sold from their labours. A scan of the original version can be read
on Google Books; it can be searched by key words.
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homesTeAd bArely survives, Then rescued
The Athenree Homestead passed through several owners, and the
property was sub-divided over time. The home itself is unique to
the area as it was one of only a handful of its era that continued to
be occupied and maintained up until the early 1950s.
After decades of fundraising, archeological studies and restoration
work, the Homestead itself was opened to the public in 2002. The
railway refreshment building was moved to the property for a cafe,
driveways built, and the gardens improved. Athenree Homested
will always a work in progress, supported by dozens of volunteers.
Adela’s diary, republished recently and available for sale at
Athenree, lives on as a delightful read and crucial resource for
historical details. Its pages not only reveal the Stewarts’ everyday
lives at the Homestead, the book provides hundreds of clues
needed for the accurate restoration of the buildings and the
reclamation of the gardens and orchards.
The Homestead’s original 500 acres included pasture land and
orchard trees, and tomato fields delivered up enough produce to
have a sizable canning operation. Gardens provided vegetables,
berries and animal feed. Tree starts and plant and flower
cuttings were propagated there or donated to Adela from friends
throughout New Zealand.
Little of the original gardens and orchards remain, but some
surviving trees are over 100 years old. The intent is to replant only
heritage species, as are now planted in the heritage rose garden.
For more inFormATion
Read the story of the Athenree Heritage restoration in our last
issue of Coromandel Life.
Beryl Hughes’ biography of Adela Stewart:
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