When George Turnbull built the three-storey stone Ida Valley Flourmill in 1884 to process grain he joined a small network of Maniototo mills which produced flour for the local market.

Historically the Ida Valley Flourmill represents the small scale rural mills in the Maniototo, which processed the grain grown by the region’s farmers. Architecturally it is typical of a small nineteenth century flourmill built using local stone. Although the building has been converted into a residence, there is still a sense of the mill’s past in its form and scale. The Ida Valley Flourmill (Former) sits on the same road as the Hayes’ Engineering Works. With the works the flourmill forms a picture of local industry, part of that area’s historical landscape.

George Turnbull was in the process of building his mill near the Idaburn in August 1884. The Otago Witness reported in July 1887 that the ‘newly started’ flourmill of George Turnbull in Ida Valley had provided the impetus for cereal cultivation in the region. Ernest Hayes, who went on to found Hayes’ Engineering Works nearby, installed the mill machinery and worked as a miller. By the mid-1890s Ernest Hayes was listed as a miller and grain merchant, though W.R. Louden was listed as the proprietor of the ‘Ida Valley Flour Mills’. Louden made ‘extensive alterations’ to the mill. Despite optimism about the mill’s future it was in financial trouble by the early twentieth century, and despite being converted to a roller mill to reflect the changing times, it finally closed in the early decades the new century. The Hayes family bought the property at that time and used the building for storage. In the 1980s new owners converted the building into a residence.

The mill is three storeys high and built of schist. The stone foundations are reportedly 11 feet (3.35m) deep, to support the above ground structure. The mill is a simple single gable structure, rectangular in plan. The roof is corrugated iron. The adjoining oatmeal house has been replaced with a modern timber addition which houses bedrooms and bathrooms. The original window openings were enlarged when the building was converted to a residence. The interior of the mill is still three storeys, which gives a sense of the scale of the place. The interior is fitted out simply with timber and stone which still gives a sense of the history of the place.

In 2012 the former mill is home to a boutique bed and breakfast.