\u201cWe hope that the Clarke family would be so pleased with the steps taken to preserve and care for their home and story. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe plan to engage with descendants in the next phase of telling the story of the family, home and farm so our community and visitors can celebrate this part of our heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The colonial home was built in 1886 by Dr Alexander Clarke, who named it Glorat after a 19th-century mansion in his home country, Scotland. Having visited his brothers in New Zealand as a ship\u2019s doctor, he too decided to migrate with wife Mary and their three sons William, James and Alexander. <\/p>\n
They purchased 94ha of land in Maunu and Glorat was built by carpenter Richard Keyte.<\/p>\n
As well as the family home, it served as a doctor\u2019s surgery. James and wife Mabel took over Glorat in 1902 with their four children and it is said their time on the farm was a social one, with regular tennis parties, garden parties and dances.<\/p>\n
The former doctor’s surgery at the front of the house. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
Their son Basil inherited the farm and ran it until 1972, when he handed over the keys to Northland Regional Museum Trust.<\/p>\n
Included in the sale was the guarantee that Basil would retain around 7ha for his own use during his lifetime, and he lived in the back of the homestead with Glorat\u2019s housekeeper of 54 years, Myra Carter.<\/p>\n
As he aged and the garden became overgrown, students from Maunu School across the road would refer to Glorat as \u201cthe haunted house\u201d. After his death in 1983, the entire home was open to the public for viewing with its original antique furnishings and artefacts collected by the family.<\/p>\n
Today, the Grade 2 Heritage New Zealand-listed building still stands proud, looking out towards Mt Manaia. And, thanks to the revamp, it\u2019s looking sharper than ever.<\/p>\n
Basil Clarke’s room. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
The project began in 2019 with the removal and storage of all the items accrued from generations of the Clarke family. This was carried out by project manager Gael Ramsey and a small team of volunteers, who meticulously photographed and catalogued each item, polishing and packing it away for storage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a house full of treasures,\u201d Gael said at the time. \u201cI think different generations of the same family living here have added to the collection, not removing anything over the years. I opened a little drawer and there were some decorations that had been on a cake for a celebration of some sort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The homestead was then repiled, scaffolded and wrapped, reroofed and fitted with new guttering and spouting fitting the heritage style of its era. This work was carried out by Kerr Construction, the builders recommended by Heritage Northland.<\/p>\n
Errol Pohe. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
The team of three was led by foreman Errol Pohe, who said they had been gaining an education and appreciation for 1880s craftsmanship and the high-quality materials while restoring one of Whang\u0101rei\u2019s most historic buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite extraordinary the amount of effort that must have gone into building this place,\u201d Errol said. \u201cIt must have been a very slow and precise process. It\u2019s been like a giant jigsaw puzzle undoing it all and putting it back together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heritage New Zealand\u2019s Bill Edwards said Glorat\u2019s quality construction, with all the added trimmings, was indicative of wealth.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlorat is an extremely good example of a late 19th-century house. The finest materials have been used in its building and the timbers are from the now rare and endangered, once extensive Northland kauri forests. The selection of cladding [ship lap], joinery and external ornamentation are of the highest quality and grade.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basil Clarke handing over the keys to Glorat in 1972.<\/p>\n
This was Pohe\u2019s third project at the Kiwi North site, having previously carried out restoration work on the heritage-classed chapel and outbuildings, and he had developed an empathy for the place.<\/p>\n
He said that without today\u2019s power tools and using the likes of hand-forged nails, he imagined the initial build would have taken at least double the amount of time it would today.<\/p>\n
He and the team had also made some interesting discoveries: while crawling under the house during the repiling process, they had discovered an assortment of bones and a tooth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was one that was quite big and it looked like a [humerus]. I was holding it up to my arm measuring it. That kind of stopped us in our tracks for a while. I was thinking, this used to be a doctor\u2019s surgery \u2026\u201d he said with a grin.<\/p>\n
As it turned out, the bones belonged to animals, likely dragged under the house by various owners\u2019 pets.<\/p>\n
A string quartet played at the celebration. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
The next stage of the refit was rewiring and installation of a security system, the installation of a modern kitchen usable for future event catering, new kitchen flooring, painting all the ceilings, and renewal of the scrim and wallpaper throughout the house. The latter task involved engaging a replacement contractor after the first one found the task too challenging \u2013 McNabb Decorators came on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey advised that the old scrim was deteriorated to such an extent that new scrim would need to be installed before they could wallpaper. The scrim is a heritage alternative to Batts and Gib board,\u201d says Brittany.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team from McNabb\u2019s was fascinated to work on this project as it was such a rare opportunity. Some of the older crew members were familiar with scrim, while some of the younger ones and especially the apprentices, had never come across it before. It was a great learning opportunity for the crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
The change in contractors and Covid caused a delay in the project, along with a budget blowout from the original estimated $500,000.<\/p>\n
The homestead regularly played host to tea parties.<\/p>\n
Says Brittany: \u201cThe project met many challenges, as is common with heritage-grade work. For example, finding a source to replace the broken pane of patterned glass for the front door \u2013 we went across New Zealand searching for suppliers and ended up getting the original \u2018aster\u2019 print restored by a local signwriter in the end \u2013 and signed off by Heritage New Zealand. Covid era also provided delays and with delays came price increases blowing some elements of the project higher. It is also challenging to find specialty tradesmen for specific heritage-grade works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governed by the Whang\u0101rei Museum and Heritage Trust, Kiwi North used funding from Whang\u0101rei District Council, Lotteries Environment and Heritage, Foundation North, Sir John Logan Campbell Estate and Stout Trust. She says with remaining tasks to be complete, it is hard to put a final figure on the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to seek further funding for stage three of the Glorat project for interpretations and tour guide recruitment and training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole restoration project has really raised the standard for how we care for and display the Clarke archives. We want to ensure this standard of care can continue into the next phase. We hope to open Glorat for guided tours in 2026. We also need to make some changes to the current fire system so it complies with building consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The removal of glass viewing dividers, used to keep distance between spectators and displays, will assist with airflow, keeping humidity under control and enabling longevity. Visitors will now be able to enter the rooms supervised. Guided tours will also include the outhouses and gravesites.<\/p>\n
With all items returned to their original nooks and crannies within the house, visitors can expect to see the likes of the Bible that Alexander and Mary were gifted on their wedding day, Basil\u2019s drum kit and his lifetime membership for the Whang\u0101rei Museum.<\/p>\n
Christine Wernham (nee Clarke) standing in front of where the tennis courts once were. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
Fittingly, for her dedication to the project, Gael was awarded a lifetime membership at the recent project completion celebration and was presented with a certificate designed to replicate Basil\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it was about restoring the pride \u2013 not just of the house but for Whang\u0101rei,\u201d says Gael.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s all Basil would have wanted\u2019<\/p>\n
For Christine Wernham (nee Clarke), it was like stepping back into her childhood while wandering through the preserved memories of her youthful stomping ground.<\/p>\n
She spent many a day and night running around outside and having sleepovers at \u201cUncle Basil and Aunty Myra\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n
Christine remembers having many family meals around this oak table. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember running around the gardens, eating walnuts and playing tennis,\u201d she recalls, pointing out the area where it\u2019s still clear to see was once a tennis court. \u201cWe used to hang around when we knew they\u2019d finished hay baling and were about to have morning tea,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Christine\u2019s father was Neville, Basil\u2019s brother, who was the last Clarke descendant to live in the homestead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a dear old thing,\u201d says Christine. \u201cWe would stay here when Mum and Dad were going to dances and Aunty Myra would give us a Swiss biscuit and a hot lemon drink from the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now living in Auckland, Christine and her husband returned to Whang\u0101rei to attend the celebration for the Glorat project completion and it was with mounting excitement that she went through the newly renovated rooms.<\/p>\n
Christine and Dean point out their family members. Photo \/ Jodi Bryant<\/p>\n
\u201cGosh, we had many a family dinner at this table,\u201d she reminisced, patting the large oak table fondly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be a crystal bowl here,\u201d she points to a dresser, \u201cwith glucose lollies in it and a teaspoon and we used to try and sneak one without Aunty Myra hearing the clink sound\u201d.<\/p>\n
Unbeknown to Christine until it was later pointed out, in the same room were distant relatives, Dean Alexander Clark with daughter Alicia and niece Katie. Dean is also a descendant although, somewhere along the line, the \u201ce\u201d was dropped from the surname.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d never been here before,\u201d says Dean of the homestead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know this existed,\u201d says Katie, before pulling out her phone and looking up the family tree to see how they were related.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like Alexander is our second-grand-great uncle \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean: \u201cWe didn\u2019t actually know the relevance of the name Alexander but the name has ended up being carried down the line of males in our family with my son Jacob Alexander.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we told him, if he has a son, his middle name has to be Alexander,\u201d says Christine, who wasn\u2019t aware the house had once gained a haunted reputation from kids at the nearby school.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough I do remember having to go outside to the bathroom and we were terrified because the bamboo would creak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of Basil\u2019s thoughts of the family\u2019s lifestyle being preserved, Christine says: \u201cThat\u2019s all Basil would have wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe hope that the Clarke family would be so pleased with the steps taken to preserve and care…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,135487,13177,32255,26348,140409,1345,70437,78,424,2510,111,43,139,69,3109,140410,1230,2574,1551,165,2044,61,1869],"class_list":["post-238026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-capsule","tag-clarke","tag-familys","tag-generations","tag-glorat","tag-home","tag-homestead","tag-in","tag-life","tag-multiple","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-public","tag-refit","tag-reopen","tag-reopening","tag-set","tag-their","tag-time","tag-to","tag-whangrei"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}