Coldstream Orchard House, set in mature gardens at 200 Coldstream Road, Rangiora, is a nineteenth century farmhouse representing the early rural development surrounding the service town of Rangiora. It also represents later links to the area’s prolific orchard growing industry. Coldstream Orchard House has aesthetic and historical significance or value.
The takiwā (district) of Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga centres on Tuahiwi and extends from the Hurunui to the Hakatere river and inland to the Main Divide. Nearby the famous Kaiapoi Pā was established by the first Ngāi Tahu ancestors when they settled Te Wai Pounamu. Kaiapoi Pā was the major capital, trading centre and point from which further penetration of the South Island occurred so the area is a genealogical centre for all Ngāi Tahu whānui (descendants). Kaiapoi Pā was established by Moki’s elder brother Tūrākautahi who was the second son of Tūāhuriri, hence “Ngai Tūāhuriri” is the name of the hapū of this area.
The township of Rangiora was established in the early 1850s as a sawmilling town and became the administrative and commercial centre for a large area of farms and orchards. The area, known as Ashley County from 1876, consisted of good farming land, suitable for crops and pasturage. Flour mills, flax mills and other industries grew quickly in the township and by the census of April 1901, the Rangiora population had grown to 1,768. The 9.7124 hectares that made up Rural Section 12328 were purchased by Sir Michael Le Fleming in March 1868 from Charles Ensor, who later part-owned Mt Grey Run (Run 11). The original section of the Coldstream Orchard House is thought to have been constructed around this time. Le Fleming was born in Grasmere, Westmoreland, England and emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Duke of Portland, arriving at Lyttelton in September 1851. He already owned 20,000 acres in Run 130 close to Springfield that he had purchased in partnership with William Le Fleming and Alexander Sherwood Jackson in October 1851.
Located half a kilometre south of the banks of the Ashley River and just over one kilometre north-east of the expanding township of Rangiora,Coldstream Orchard House is a single storey colonial farmhouse, which was constructed in stages resulting in an unusual layout. The building is timber clad and has a gabled iron roof with decorative finials, large sash windows, an enclosed glazed verandah, and two replica brick chimneys. The building has numerous roof angles and pitches, illustrating the add-on nature of its development, and the original eastern section of the home has a lower roof level than the later western section. The front (northern) elevation, which overlooks the mature garden, is asymmetrical in appearance and is dominated by a large central gable with square bay window. The home’s original kauri doors remain.
The property was transferred to Frank Perrott in 1884, a bootmaker from Somerset in England who emigrated to New Zealand with his wife, Harriet, aboard the Tiptree. He ran sheep, cattle and horses on the land and had a workshop where he could make boots while watching his children work in the vegetable garden. In 1882 Perrott transferred the property to Albert Poole Fulton, an auctioneer from Rangiora, who sold it on to William Palmer Chapman, in May 1897. It was around this time that the original home was extended, and the western, higher section added. Chapman sold in 1910 to William Alexander Kelcher, a farmer from Ohoka, who only owned the property for seven years before selling to Florence Mehrtens, wife of Henry Isaac Mehrtens, who was a threshing and sawmilling proprietor in Rangiora and the son of German immigrants. It is uncertain whether the orchards on the property were first established by the Mehrtens, or after they had transferred the land to Olive Shepherd Abrahams, wife of a Rangiora bricklayer, in 1952. The earliest available aerial view showing the orchards is in 1960-64. The garages in the south-west corner are thought to have been added in the 1960s or early 1970s. In July 1972 Russell John Chambers, a farmer from Kaiapoi purchased the property and expanded the orchard business, planting additional trees and constructing larger fit-for-purpose buildings on the site. Chambers also extended the home during his ownership, enclosing the verandah to the north-east sometime in the 1970s. Chambers retained ownership until selling in 2007 to Craig and Lynette Mackie, who run a business from one of the old orchard buildings. Following the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, the original brick chimneys were deemed unstable and in 2016 these were replaced with replicas. The house and mature gardens are maintained to a high standard and still retain their relationship with the land, although no orchards remain.
The takiwā (district) of Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga centres on Tuahiwi and extends from the Hurunui to the Hakatere river and inland to the Main Divide. Nearby the famous Kaiapoi Pā was established by the first Ngāi Tahu ancestors when they settled Te Wai Pounamu. Kaiapoi Pā was the major capital, trading centre and point from which further penetration of the South Island occurred so the area is a genealogical centre for all Ngāi Tahu whānui (descendants). Kaiapoi Pā was established by Moki’s elder brother Tūrākautahi who was the second son of Tūāhuriri, hence “Ngai Tūāhuriri” is the name of the hapū of this area.
The township of Rangiora was established in the early 1850s as a sawmilling town and became the administrative and commercial centre for a large area of farms and orchards. The area, known as Ashley County from 1876, consisted of good farming land, suitable for crops and pasturage. Flour mills, flax mills and other industries grew quickly in the township and by the census of April 1901, the Rangiora population had grown to 1,768. The 9.7124 hectares that made up Rural Section 12328 were purchased by Sir Michael Le Fleming in March 1868 from Charles Ensor, who later part-owned Mt Grey Run (Run 11). The original section of the Coldstream Orchard House is thought to have been constructed around this time. Le Fleming was born in Grasmere, Westmoreland, England and emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Duke of Portland, arriving at Lyttelton in September 1851. He already owned 20,000 acres in Run 130 close to Springfield that he had purchased in partnership with William Le Fleming and Alexander Sherwood Jackson in October 1851.
Located half a kilometre south of the banks of the Ashley River and just over one kilometre north-east of the expanding township of Rangiora,Coldstream Orchard House is a single storey colonial farmhouse, which was constructed in stages resulting in an unusual layout. The building is timber clad and has a gabled iron roof with decorative finials, large sash windows, an enclosed glazed verandah, and two replica brick chimneys. The building has numerous roof angles and pitches, illustrating the add-on nature of its development, and the original eastern section of the home has a lower roof level than the later western section. The front (northern) elevation, which overlooks the mature garden, is asymmetrical in appearance and is dominated by a large central gable with square bay window. The home’s original kauri doors remain.
The property was transferred to Frank Perrott in 1884, a bootmaker from Somerset in England who emigrated to New Zealand with his wife, Harriet, aboard the Tiptree. He ran sheep, cattle and horses on the land and had a workshop where he could make boots while watching his children work in the vegetable garden. In 1882 Perrott transferred the property to Albert Poole Fulton, an auctioneer from Rangiora, who sold it on to William Palmer Chapman, in May 1897. It was around this time that the original home was extended, and the western, higher section added. Chapman sold in 1910 to William Alexander Kelcher, a farmer from Ohoka, who only owned the property for seven years before selling to Florence Mehrtens, wife of Henry Isaac Mehrtens, who was a threshing and sawmilling proprietor in Rangiora and the son of German immigrants. It is uncertain whether the orchards on the property were first established by the Mehrtens, or after they had transferred the land to Olive Shepherd Abrahams, wife of a Rangiora bricklayer, in 1952. The earliest available aerial view showing the orchards is in 1960-64. The garages in the south-west corner are thought to have been added in the 1960s or early 1970s. In July 1972 Russell John Chambers, a farmer from Kaiapoi purchased the property and expanded the orchard business, planting additional trees and constructing larger fit-for-purpose buildings on the site. Chambers also extended the home during his ownership, enclosing the verandah to the north-east sometime in the 1970s. Chambers retained ownership until selling in 2007 to Craig and Lynette Mackie, who run a business from one of the old orchard buildings. Following the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, the original brick chimneys were deemed unstable and in 2016 these were replaced with replicas. The house and mature gardens are maintained to a high standard and still retain their relationship with the land, although no orchards remain.
