Nairn Street Cottage 

As you walk through the house, you will journey through time and uncover fresh new stories as told through three generations of Wallis’ who lived there: Catherine, William, Clara and Winifred. You’ll discover the societal and technological changes they experienced as you move from room to room, starting from 1857 through to the late 1970s. An innovative timeline in the visitor centre complements this experience.

At the back of the cottage, you’ll find an authentically presented heritage garden that embraces the seasons of change. With native plants and vegetables that were used to keep the Wallis family well-nourished and in good health, it appears simple, but its informal style was both attractive and functional at the same time. It’s a perfect example of how colonial life in New Zealand relied on the garden as the main source of food, as well as for medicinal purposes. 

Classified by Heritage New Zealand as having ‘outstanding significance,’ Nairn Street Cottage is an excellent example of how the first colonials blended their lives in their Victorian homeland with the surrounds of a new country.