Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value Aramoana is part of the Blackhead run which came into the possession of the McHardy family in 1873. It was bought in partnership by Alexander McHardy and J H Coleman. Alexander McHardy and his two sons, Leslie and Percival, were involved in local Hawkes Bay affairs. Alexander was the first Chairman of the Taumumu Road Board in 1877 and remained a member for many years. He was also a member of the Patangata County Council and the Waipawa Hospital Board and the Hawkes Bay A & P Association. For many years he was a well known judge of Shorthorns. Leslie his elder son, carried on in his father's footsteps in the same local bodies. Percival, who lived in the Manawatu for thirty years, was a foundation member of the Manawatu A & P Association. The McHardys were one of the land owning families who flourished in Hawkes Bay before the turn of the century. Alexander was a good farmer and although uneducated himself, he sent his two sons to Nelson College and his daughters to Miss Greenwood's school in Wellington. The land owned by the McHardy family was not greatly sought after like that owned by the large runholders around Waipawa and Waipukurau. Much of it was steep, papa country, difficult to farm and with poor access. This is one reason why the family was able to hold onto its land for some years after other runholders has sold to the Government. Socially, Aramoana, like other sheep stations in Hawkes Bay, was a source of employment. While it was still part of Blackhead in Alexander's time, many men found employment there. In addition to shepherds and stockmen, McHardy employed gangs of men for bush felling, draining swamps and building dams. Some places on the station were named after these gangs, for example, Kerrytown. Isolation precluded Aramoana from being a social centre. When P A McHardy returned from the Manawatu, however, he brought with him a tradition for hospitality. Aramoana saw many weekend parties and a golf course was laid out. Later his sons and grandsons bred ponies and polo was played there in the weekends. Aramoana is of particular historical interest for two reasons. It was originally part of Pourere, Hawkes Bay's earliest sheep station. Secondly, it was one of a chain of sheep stations situated in the East Coast of the North Island. These stations had particular problems to cope with, uncertain climate, poor soil but particularly, isolation. The owners depended on the sea for their supplies and transport and as a means of transporting their wool. Richardson's Shipping Line of Napier counted Aramoana among its customers. The people on stations like Aramoana had to gear their shearing operations to the shipping out of wool by sea. Even the timber for the homesteads had to be floated ashore. These conditions called for skills and innovations quite unknown to their inland counterparts.

Physical Significance

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Aramoana was not one of the larger homesteads built in Hawkes Bay in the late nineteenth century. It is on the other hand, well built and well maintained. It is well sited on a hill to dominate the countryside and have a good view over the sea. The anonymous builders did a good job. The carvings on the gable ends, over some windows and over the front porch and the work of a skilled wood carver. D B Frame, the architect, designed many houses in and around Napier but it is doubtful whether many survived the Napier earthquake. Aramoana must have been one of his most significant works. TOWNSCAPE/LANDMARK SIGNIFICANCE: Aramoana, as stated above, is well sited on a hill to dominate the surrounding countryside and have a good view over the sea.