Edendale Homestead, built in 1883 as residence for the estate manager for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, is located in inland Southland, some 40 kilometres from Invercargill, on the main road between that town and Gore. The area, noted for a stand of bush set amongst swampy ground on the Mataura Plains, was known to Maori as Mairirua (and has been spelt a number of ways including Mararua and Maorirua). The land on which Edendale Homestead sits was part of Run 97, and was first taken up by Scottish shepherd John MacKenzie in 1854. MacKenzie was a man of some notoriety, with a long standing local story of sheep stealing and other adventures, for which he was eventually arrested. He failed to stock the run and had to forfeit the holding. The next applicant for the Run 97 was Irishman Robert Develin, who selected the Mataura Plains run which included Edendale. Develin camped rough on the run along with his sheep. In August 1856 a rough hut was built on the run, near Tuturau. Develin sold out to Robert Stuart in June 1857 for £1064. Stuart stocked the run with over 300 ewes, and built a wooden house at Stuart's Bush, formerly known as Edendale Bush, with Stuart noting his address as Marirua Station, Mataura Plains. An undated survey plan by C. Maling shows a station beside Mararua Bush, at the site of the present day Edendale homestead, at the time the Hundreds were surveyed. (Stuart was the first runholder to establish a permanent dwelling in the vicinity of the current Edendale Homestead. This area became the heart of development on the Edendale Plains. Southland lands were declared Hundreds from 1856 onward, including Stuart's run. Land was being surveyed off into 2000 acre blocks to interest capitalists in large scale investments. Among the first purchasers either direct or through agents was the New Zealand and Australian Land Company. In January 1862 the land in Run 97 was transferred to Matthew Holmes. Holmes, representing Holmes and Co. bought properties including Seaward Downs and Mataura Estate. Two ships were chartered by Holmes and arrived with goods and passengers for the working of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, of which Holmes was the general manager in 1862. In 1865 W. S. Davidson became the superintendent of the estates, and in 1867 Thomas Brydone (1837-1904) became the General Manager of the New Zealand Estate. The Company had a vast holding with land in Southland, North Otago, Canterbury and Australia. Local historian Patricia Wilson claims that James Douglas (agent and manager for the Company until 1870) gave the area the name Edendale, apparently after the Garden of Eden, but also notes the history associated with Holmes. It seems likely that both men acted as agents for the Company. Land title information indicates that title to the larger area within which the homestead stands was issued to the New Zealand and Australian Land Company in 1885, having been previously issued to Douglas and another in 1871. The Company was a powerful concern that gave impetus to development in Southland, including the construction of the railway from Invercargill to Gore, the establishment of the Woodlands Meat Preserving Works in 1873, and the development of the dairy factory at Edendale in the early 1880s. The Edendale Estates were divided into three groups Oteramika Downs, Waimumu Downs and Mataura Valley. The Company eventually owned about 125,000 acres which was known as the Edendale Estate. Local historian Miller writes that the Company made a very real contribution to the advancement of agriculture in Southland. A homestead was constructed at the Bush at Mararua (close to the present day house) which was considered the very heart of the district. Edendale was the centre of the Company's estate in Southland, with successive managers living in the homestead. The house was also leased for a time to Shand Brothers. There was immediate regret about the Edendale purchase, with Brydone lamenting: 'It was the worst kind of country for a Company to hold and cultivate! It was downright bad luck that the Land Company selected about the most unsuitable and unprofitable land in New Zealand for a company to work when they bought the estate in the Province of Southland.' 'Even though chosen by Scotsmen who were accustomed to a specially wet climate at home, it has always been a marvel to me how practical men should have selected such cold soil, when 150 miles to the north were millions of acres of sweet productive land, open for purchase for working on such a large scale.' William Davidson (1846-1924) served until 1878 when he was recalled to Glasgow to succeed Morton as the General Manager of the land company. By 1878 some £57,500 had been spent on buildings and fencing, and over £200,000 on cultivation of grasses. The Estate carried 62,000 sheep and 5,700 cattle. Expenditure was largely confined to 35,000 acres, half of which were in the Mataura Valley, but even with this money the estates failed to prosper. A number of expensive steam engines were imported for working the ploughs and harrows, but these heavy machines sunk in the boggy tracks and were unsuccessful. Davidson lamenting: 'When riding over the numerous estates in Southland, it made one sad to reckon up the fruitless expense that had taken place, and my climax was reached when I saw a large shed filled with a number of steam engines for working ploughs and harrows, the original cost of which was enormous. Such a system of cultivation being entirely unsuitable to Edendale.' Large sums were spent on bridges and road in an attempt to navigate the swampy area. Ultimately the Company found its holdings a drain on resources: the inclement winter weather, the rabbit plague and the poor soil effects combining, resulting in a loss to the Company. They decided to sell their holding. Selling the property proved an issue. In 1881 Thomas Brydone suggested the development of dairying and this was approved, with Brydone authorized to acquire a herd of 300 dairy cows. A factory would provide a market for local dairy produce. Mervyn Palmer, writing in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography considers that Brydone's contribution to dairying in New Zealand (at Edendale) is, 'if less heralded, perhaps even more noteworthy' than his well recognized outstanding role in the development of the frozen meat industry. Davidson visited Canada and reported back to Brydone on the dairy industry there, sending a report complete with plans for a model factory and the necessary machinery. The Dairy Factory at Edendale, the first of its kind in New Zealand, was built at a cost of £1200, against which the Land Company gained a bonus of £500 offered by the Government for the first export of 50 tons of cheese or 25 tons of butter, to encourage the factory system of manufacture. Historian H.G. Philpott, author of a history of the New Zealand dairy industry, writes of the outstanding significance of the Edendale Dairy Factory: Historically the importance of the Edendale Dairy Company is without parallel in the establishment of the factory system of dairying in New Zealand. It was the second, not the first, of our dairy factories, and originally it was a proprietary not a co-operative concern. But while the greatest credit is due to the courage and enterprise of the small band of eight dairy farmers who not only started but successfully operated for several years the co-operative dairy company established on the Otago Peninsula in 1871, the influence of the Peninsula Pioneer Co-operative Cheese Company, Ltd., brand 'Pioneer,' was almost entirely local, whereas the Edendale company spread its beneficial influence over the whole Colony. Philpott writes that Edendale's only serious competitor for the Government's bonus was Flemington (near Ashburton), which commenced operations on 30 October 1882, but whose output of 30 tons for the season failed to comply with the 50 tons minimum requirement. There were only two other large cheese factories in full operation at the time (Te Awamutu and Lepperton). The Company commenced operation on 18 January 1882. The Otago Witness reported: The Company have erected a most extensive building as a cheese factory. It is placed on a private siding at the Railway Station of timber and concrete, floor and cellar concrete, walls double, eight inch walls overall with sawdust between. Ground floor 42ft x 68 ft divided into a receiving room, selling room, cheese making room, drum room, buttermaking room, wash room, boiler room with an h.p. engine. The concrete cellar 20ft x 12ft x 8ft high, cheese curing room upstairs 68 ft by 20 ft all thoroughly fitted with steam power throughout and capable of manufacturing the milk of 1200 cows. The factory was under the active supervision of the manager of the Edendale Estate (at first Robert McCallum, and presumably later Donald McDonald). The Edendale dairy factory is regarded as the 'true pioneer' of New Zealand's dairy factories, more than a just a cheese factory it combined the dairy factory function with experimentation and a highly valued training school (the first in the country, begun in 1895). In addition, the ship Dunedin which carried the first shipment of frozen meat to England in February 1882, carried a small quantity of butter made at the Edendale factory. The Edendale factory was closely followed by one at Flemington near Ashburton in August 1882. While the Edendale Homestead was not completed until 1883, as the residence of the Estate manager, who played an important role in managing the Company's interest in the factory, it embodies the New Zealand and Australian Land Company's Edendale Estate and its role and support of the development of the dairy industry in Southland, and as a pioneer in the country as a whole. Instructors for the dairy school were the guests of Donald MacDonald at Edendale Homestead. Davidson considered that the building of the factory and the purchasing of milk helped facilitate the sale of thousands of acres in the area. A booklet was prepared and published in Scotland fully describing the estates for sale, and was designed to attract Scottish immigrants. Most of the first purchasers, however, were already in New Zealand. The Otago Witness reported that the whole estate had been subdivided into paddocks of 150-200 acres surrounded by gorse fences for shelter. Two windmills had been working for several years to supply water for 1000 acres. On 14 January 1882 the Southland Times advertised farms on Edendale Estate for sale. The farms were 30-180 acres, suburban sections 2-12 acres, and town sections ¼ acre. In 1883 W.S. Davidson reported to the company that a new homestead had been built at Edendale at a cost of £2,201, replacing the earlier homestead which had been sold. The timber for the house was from the Company's mill at Kamahi Bush. By 1886 the Land Company had liquidated its southern holdings. During this time the manager of the estate was Robert McCallum, living in the old homestead opposite the gates of the present homestead. In 1888 Donald Macdonald became the manager of the Edendale Estate. He was the last of the Company's managers for Edendale. He had come to New Zealand in 1877 at the age of nineteen, and was employed by the Land Company at Acton Station, Rakaia, and later at Clydevale in the Clutha District. Donald Macdonald encouraged his employees to buy land around Edendale. He would let settlers contract for him in winter to help with their rents. Macdonald is remembered as a larger than life figure: as 'Long Macdonald', 'the Laird', the 'Big Chief', demanding a 'tremendous amount of work' from his men, and living at the new homestead. He was known for his love of horses, with the brick-floored stables housing ten Clydesdales and ten fine hacks, and the estate's horses noted throughout the district. Another notable contribution of Macdonald was his encouragement of farmers in the application of lime to the pastureland, which had a huge effect on the production of the land. Settlers were struggling with their rent, and at a meeting with Thomas Brydone and Donald Macdonald in 1889 expressed their concerns. Brydone seemed willing to reduce rents, but Macdonald said that they were to be given free lime. Local historian Wilson writes: 'If any one thing could be singled out among many, that have been the making of Edendale, lime perhaps could have the honour.' Excursion trains were run from Dunedin to illustrate what could be achieved by putting lime on the paddocks: turnips were so large they were displayed on the fence in view of train passengers and the pastures thrived. In 1902 Donald Macdonald visited Scotland and purchased most of the unsold portion of Edendale Estate from his employers. Around this time the homestead appears to have been extended to the rear, with a bathroom, kitchen and additional bedrooms added. With the exception of the Homestead Block of 2,000 acres and some leased properties most of it was sold to the Government for subdivision under The Land for Settlements Consolidation Act of 1900. The Edendale Estate was subdivided into 122 farms under lease in perpetuity. The annual rental was fixed varying on the type of country. The land could be freeholded. In 1903 the dairy factory became a cooperative (as Thomas Brydone had hoped from its inception in 1882). The New Zealand Dairyman (Nov 1903) reported that the settlers on Edendale Estate had purchased the dairy factory from Donald Macdonald. Macdonald apparently refused some lucrative private offers to allow the settlers to buy the factory. The property at that time included the factory, plant, cheesemaker's residence, men's cottage, six acres of land and a large piggery. In December 1903 the first directors of the company were elected, including Donald Macdonald who served for about a year, guiding the new recruits into the business of running a dairy factory. In 1909 Donald Macdonald subdivided a portion of the homestead block. 1100 acres were subdivided into 12 farms, ranging from 60-120 acres, designed to encourage settlers into dairy farming. Macdonald retained 700 acres around the homestead for himself. In 1936 the old wooden making room at the Edendale Dairy Factory which had served for 54 years was rebuilt. Donald Macdonald lived on Edendale Estate till is death in 1939. His obituary in the Otago Daily Times 27 Nov 1939) noted that his focus on the farm was fattening cattle for market, Hereford breeding, and a love of horses, particularly Clydesdales. Hilda Macdonald died in 1940. After this time the family engaged a working manager, who with a housekeeper and a gardener cared for the homestead and estate. In 1946 a 400 acres was acquired by the Government for three dairy farms under the Rehabilitation Scheme for returned servicemen. In 1960 the estate was acquired by the current owner, grandson of Donald Macdonald. The homestead was relined and restored, with some reconfiguration of the service areas of the house to suit modern living. The Edendale Homestead was one of the centres for 80th Jubilee celebrations for the Edendale Dairy Factory. A procession involving Donald Macdonald's original buggy, driven by his grandson, with his daughter and great-grandson as passengers (as well as a local dressed as Sir Thomas Brydone) paraded up the grand tree-lined driveway watched by some 2000 people at the homestead. In 2007 the homestead remains in the ownership of Macdonald's descendents.

General Location Edendale Homestead is located about one kilometre outside Edendale, a small town in Southland. The Edendale district is 45 kilometres inland from Invercargill, and is a farming area focused on dairying. The large Edendale dairy factory is located nearby. A kilometre long sequoia-lined drive leads from State Highway I (Edendale-Woodlands Highway) to the Homestead. The Homestead sits next to Mararua Bush (a substantial remnant native forest). Surrounding the house itself are well developed gardens and grounds, including many mature trees which may date from the nineteenth century. The house faces north and looks over the well-grassed paddocks. The viewscape from the house is protected by a covenant on the title of the adjoining block which was recently subdivided and sold. To the west of the house are the outbuildings associated with the homestead: the former stables (more recently used as a grain processing area), and the building incorporating the dairy/cart shed and barn. A small pump house shelters the pump and bore that provides water for the homestead. The outbuildings formerly included a men's quarters and cottage (since demolished), and a motor garage (destroyed by fire). The concrete foundations of these buildings remain. External Appearance Edendale Homestead is a substantial two-storey timber villa-style residence. The form of the building is basically a large return bay villa, with additional gables and lean-tos added to the south and east elevations. It has restrained detailing, most notable being the paneling and dentils around some of the bay windows. The principle north elevation has a projecting gable on the right side. This gable has square bay windows with decorative paneling and corbels, with a hipped roof on the first floor. The windows are double-hung sash. The windows at the end of the hallway are round-headed and divided into six-lights. There is a veranda on the ground floor and a balcony on the first floor with carved balusters. The east elevation has a faceted bay window projecting from the ground floor. The west elevation has a square bay window, topped with a separate gable on the first floor. There are two single storey square bay windows with dentils and decorative paneling on this elevation. A metal fire escape (with window access from the bedrooms) runs the length of the first floor of the west elevation. The house faces north, with the formal entrance on the north elevation. The south elevation provides access to the service areas of the house, and is U-shaped. It has a single-storey lean-to porch. There is a narrow brick single storey brick addition, topped with a single gable timber structure which houses the bathroom on the ground floor, and a storage cupboard on the first floor. Internal Layout The house is arranged around central hallways on the both floors. On entering the front door a wide hallway has provides access to the rooms alongside. The entrance doors, as with much of the joinery in the formal parts of the house in varnished. There is a timber arch over the entrance into the hallway. The formal parlour is the first room on the right. The parlour has a decorative fire timber surround with a built in mirror. The plaster ceilings are a notable feature of this room. There is a dado rail. Across the hallway is the formal dining room. This is an opulent room decorated in rich red tones (a colour noted to have been used in that room is the past, and chosen by the current owners for this reason). There is a decorative timber fire surround with tiling and an inbuilt mirror. There is an alcove formed by the bay window with a shallow arch above. The timber and paneling in the bay are varnished and are notable features of the room. To rear of the house what is now the informal open plan living, dining room and kitchen. This area has been opened up. The original toilet room is notable for its pressed metal walls and ceiling (matching that in the upstairs bathroom). This area has been remodeled to suit modern requirements. A staircase rises from the left side of the hallway, leading to the first floor landing, and the bedrooms. The staircase has a turned timber balusters and newel posts. The upstairs landing runs the length of the first floor. There are eight bedrooms opening off the hall. Much of the house has been relined in Gibraltar board. Some of the bedrooms have fireplaces, others do not. There is a small bathroom on the first floor, notable for its pressed metal ceiling and walls. The Outbuildings The outbuildings are located to the west of the homestead. The stables and the barn (which housed the cart shed, dairy as well as storage) are both single storey timber buildings. The stable is a single gable structure with a lean-to addition to the north elevation. It originally provided stalls for 20 horses (four sets of stalls for five horses each, only 1 of those stalls remain. The stable was adapted for use as a granary in the 1960s and now houses several grain silos and other equipment associated with processing grain. Some parts of the stable are suffering from rot and water damage. The barn is an L-shaped timber structure. It housed the cart shed, barn and work room in one wing, and the milking space for the house cows in the other. The dairy still has the stalls in place for the cows. The remainder of the building is now largely used for storage. Some parts of the barn are suffering from rot and water damage. To the north of the stables and barn there are the concrete foundations of the garage and a cottage. There is also a small single gable pump shed which houses the bore and pump that provides water for the property. This and its accompanying storage tank used to provide gravity fed water supply to much of the farm. Of the storage tank, the concrete anchors for the legs survive. The Grounds The Homestead and outbuildings are situated in mature grounds. The kilometre-long driveway from the main road is a Wellingtonia-lined avenue and is a notable feature of the estate. The house and outbuildings are surrounded by other mature trees, and these make a significant contribution to the heritage value of the property. An undated plan of the Homestead Timber notes that the plantings included mature plantings of Pinus insignis, Sycamore, Cyprus lawsoniana, Macrocarpa, and Larch. The history of Edendale is one of a pioneering association with the dairy industry, in particular the role of Thomas Brydone and William Davidson and the New Zealand and Australian Land Company in providing international examples of technology and context for factory dairy production in Canada, and then using that information to build a factory which led the way in dairy exporting in New Zealand. The role of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company and the significance of Edendale as the centre of the Company's operations is similar in importance to Totara Estate and its contribution to the frozen meat industry. Totara Estate has a range of buildings associated with the operation of the farm in the nineteenth century - including the Carcass Hanging Shed, Granary, Stables, Men's Quarters and Cookshop (all Category I), and Homestead (Category II). While Edendale does not have such a complete range of buildings the historical association and importance of the place is as strong as Totara, particularly given that the original dairy factory building has been replaced by the huge modern complex nearby at Edendale. The homestead in particular stands as the reminder of the importance of this period in the history of the dairy industry. The NZHPT has registered a variety of buildings associated with the dairy industry including a dairy company office, examples of dairy workers' houses, and seven dairy factory buildings (the majority of them dating from the twentieth century. All but two are Category II; the exceptions are the Old Dairy Factory at Palmerston North (Record Number 7180), constructed in 1928; and, Springfield on the Otago Peninsula was the site of the first cooperative dairy factory in the country (Record Number 4715, Category I). Springfield was the home of the Otago Peninsula Cheese Factory Company formed in 1871, and which operated from an 1860s farmstead and its ancillary buildings, until it moved first to a purpose built brick factory at nearby Pukehiki, eventually absorbed into the Taieri and Peninsula Dairy Company. This company focused on production for the domestic market, whereas Edendale was focused on export.

Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapu / Whanau