Tomanovitch Cottage

Rafters Road, Gibbston, KAWARAU VALLEY

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Tomanovitch Cottage is a single-roomed mud brick building constructed by Pietro Tomanovitch dating from the late 1860s gold mining period of Otago's history. Its small scale and simple construction methods provide an illustration of the kind of dwellings built by solitary miners during this period. The cottage is unusual because it was occupied by its owner for a nearly fifty year period, with its orchard illustrating his long term occupation. The story of Pietro Tomanovitch's life is one of a sojourner who settled, but whose life is typical of the bachelor miners who turned to other land-based occupations, and made a significant contribution to the local community - in this case through his involvement in orcharding and the grafting of fruit trees. His own orchard, still extant, is a reminder of this contribution to the Gibbston area. With the creeping vines of the wine industry stretching through the Gibbston Valley and beyond, and adding a new layer to the landscape, survivors such as Tomanovitch's cottage are important elements of the earlier historical landscape associated with the goldfields.

Tomanovitch Cottage | NZ Historic Places Trust

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

7595

Date Entered

4th April 2005

Date of Effect

4th April 2005

City/District Council

Queenstown-Lakes District

Region

Otago Region

Extent of List Entry

The registration includes the land in certificate of title OT15B/296, and the building and orchard thereon. The registration includes only the building and its orchard (noted on the site plan as 'Orchard Zone' in Appendix 2), known as Tomanovitch Cottage, and not the adjacent modern dwelling.

Legal description

Sec 40 Blk V Kawarau SD (RT OT15B/296), Otago Land District

Location Description

Rafters Road is a private access road used by rafters to reach the banks of the steep-sided Kawarau River. Rafters Road is off the main highway on the right, some 200m before Coal Pit Road traveling towards Queenstown. Tomanovitch Cottage is on the right side of Rafters Road after it drops off the edge of the river terrace.

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