The end of an era is in sight for an historic Featherston property and the family that have owned it for nearly a century and a half.
Tarureka on the outskirts of the town has been home to the Donald family for 140 years, give or take a day or two.
Now Hamish and Diana Donald are retiring and have put the complex, which includes the function centre The Loft, on the market.
The couple have two sons and two daughters all of whom have been offered the opportunity of carrying Tarureka through to a fifth generation family property but Hamish said all four have their own lives to lead and it's likely Tarureka will pass to completely new owners.
Tarureka was established by Hamish's great-grandfather James Donald who worked milling timber on the other side of the Rimutaka Range but made regular trips to the fledgling communities in Wairarapa buying up parcels of land.
He settled in South Featherston and raised a family before building the homestead on Tarureka in 1868.
Tarureka - meaning sweet herbs- housed a dutch barn for milking cows on the ground floor that has since become The Loft, and an upstairs area for storing loose hay.
James Donald ended up with enough land to milk five herds each of 100 dairy cows, an enormous number of cows for those early years.
He tried to interest other dairy farm owners into establishing a co-op dairy company but couldn't get enough far- sighted men to make this happen, so he built his own butter factory at Tarureka in 1880.
The old butter factory building survived until 1918 when it closed, and was later demolished.
Tarureka eventually passed to Hamish's grandfather Allen Donald and then to his father and mother Bruce and Nan Donald, just prior to World War 2.
Hamish and Diana took over farming Tarureka in 1985 and 12 years later established The Loft firstly as a restaurant and function centre for weddings and other occasions, with it later being a functions centre only.
Historic Donald property on the market
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