The earliest stone house on Rakiura and one of the oldest buildings in the South Island, this small single gabled cottage was built by Captain Lewis Acker (1815?-1884) in 1834-5 and is situated on a grassy bank in the picturesque Harrold Bay on Acker’s Point, Stewart Island / Rakiura. Today the building is unoccupied and maintained as a visitor site; it has historic and architectural significance.
Kōrero tuko ihu (oral traditions) tell us Māui pulled up a stone as an anchor for his canoe which he named Te Puka o Te Waka o Māui. This land became known as Rakiura, often translated as ‘glowing skies’ through the story of Te Rakitāmau who blushed fiercely when his request to marry the daughter of a Kāti Māmoe chief was refused. A number of permanent and temporary settlements were established on the island and were occupied by Waitaha, Ngāti Mamoe and Ngāi Tahu in succession. Through conflict and alliance, they have merged in the whakapapa of Ngāi Tahu Whānui. In 1834, Captain Lewis Acker, an American whaler, purchased 600 acres from Chief Tuhawaiki. Acker gave his name to Acker's Point where he cleared land for cultivation around the stone cottage he built there in 1834-35, possibly in imitation of his home in New York State.
The cottage is a simple rectangular building built mainly from local granite with gable ends and two windows flanking a central door in the north elevation. Acker set the stones in what appears to be a sandy clay-based lime mortar. The north elevation has a significant area of render made with crushed shells. The interior of the building measures 6.9m x 3.5m and had an ingenious tier of five bunks for the Acker’s nine children; short near the floor and long near the roof. Archaeologists report the roof was likely to have been a thick brown slate, later replaced by iron. Restoration undertaken in the late 1980s revealed the door frames were made of adze cut timber.
Acker made his name as a boat-builder, farmer and coastal-trader. He married Mari Pī (Mary Pui), the daughter of Kaniua and Hinepipiwai who had fled Kaiapoi from Te Rauparaha, in 1844. The Acker family resided in the cottage until around 1856 when Acker became the first pilot at New River Head and also at Bluff. Acker lost his claim to the land when Rakiura/Stewart Island was purchased by the Crown in 1864 and moved to Ōtātara, Invercargill where he farmed until his death. Following the Acker family’s departure, Captain James Harrold (1813-1898) and his wife Agnes moved into the area. Harrold Bay is named for them. The Harrolds used Acker’s cottage as a smithy, storerooms, brewery, and later as a boat-building workshop. They went on to establish the nearby Traveller’s Rest (List No. 2563) in the 1870s. At some stage the western wall of the cottage was partially demolished, potentially to provide a largely doorway for boat building; the stones were used to construct the interior paving for heating pitch (c 1890). The smithy followed this and was situated at the eastern end of the cottage though there is no evidence of either a domestic or industrial fireplace. The cottage was later owned by Newton Julius Jensen (1870-1921) and Mary Elizabeth Leask (1871-1949) from 1912. The timbers of the current structure are relatively modern which suggests at least minor re-structuring of the roof. The current covering has frequently been replaced after storms. Acker’s Cottage was extensively restored in late 1988 with the works funded by Heritage New Zealand. It is clearly signposted on the walking track from the end of Leask Bay Road.
Kōrero tuko ihu (oral traditions) tell us Māui pulled up a stone as an anchor for his canoe which he named Te Puka o Te Waka o Māui. This land became known as Rakiura, often translated as ‘glowing skies’ through the story of Te Rakitāmau who blushed fiercely when his request to marry the daughter of a Kāti Māmoe chief was refused. A number of permanent and temporary settlements were established on the island and were occupied by Waitaha, Ngāti Mamoe and Ngāi Tahu in succession. Through conflict and alliance, they have merged in the whakapapa of Ngāi Tahu Whānui. In 1834, Captain Lewis Acker, an American whaler, purchased 600 acres from Chief Tuhawaiki. Acker gave his name to Acker's Point where he cleared land for cultivation around the stone cottage he built there in 1834-35, possibly in imitation of his home in New York State.
The cottage is a simple rectangular building built mainly from local granite with gable ends and two windows flanking a central door in the north elevation. Acker set the stones in what appears to be a sandy clay-based lime mortar. The north elevation has a significant area of render made with crushed shells. The interior of the building measures 6.9m x 3.5m and had an ingenious tier of five bunks for the Acker’s nine children; short near the floor and long near the roof. Archaeologists report the roof was likely to have been a thick brown slate, later replaced by iron. Restoration undertaken in the late 1980s revealed the door frames were made of adze cut timber.
Acker made his name as a boat-builder, farmer and coastal-trader. He married Mari Pī (Mary Pui), the daughter of Kaniua and Hinepipiwai who had fled Kaiapoi from Te Rauparaha, in 1844. The Acker family resided in the cottage until around 1856 when Acker became the first pilot at New River Head and also at Bluff. Acker lost his claim to the land when Rakiura/Stewart Island was purchased by the Crown in 1864 and moved to Ōtātara, Invercargill where he farmed until his death. Following the Acker family’s departure, Captain James Harrold (1813-1898) and his wife Agnes moved into the area. Harrold Bay is named for them. The Harrolds used Acker’s cottage as a smithy, storerooms, brewery, and later as a boat-building workshop. They went on to establish the nearby Traveller’s Rest (List No. 2563) in the 1870s. At some stage the western wall of the cottage was partially demolished, potentially to provide a largely doorway for boat building; the stones were used to construct the interior paving for heating pitch (c 1890). The smithy followed this and was situated at the eastern end of the cottage though there is no evidence of either a domestic or industrial fireplace. The cottage was later owned by Newton Julius Jensen (1870-1921) and Mary Elizabeth Leask (1871-1949) from 1912. The timbers of the current structure are relatively modern which suggests at least minor re-structuring of the roof. The current covering has frequently been replaced after storms. Acker’s Cottage was extensively restored in late 1988 with the works funded by Heritage New Zealand. It is clearly signposted on the walking track from the end of Leask Bay Road.
