A grand trip back in time

Tim Nichols is the fifth generation of Nichols to live at Kuriheka Homestead. Picture / Bruce Munro

The decades began to peel away as my car veered inland off the state highway at Maheno, south of Oamaru. The twisting, paddock-bound road and cow-flecked fields projected a 1960s pastoral ambience that turned distinctly pre-war as the lane narrowed and the seal disappeared. Even so I wasn't ready for the shock when, crossing a bridge and climbing through bush, I suddenly emerged in front of a magnificent, 18th and 19th-century, Oamaru-stone homestead, the legendary Kuriheka, home to one of the most significant private collections you will see anywhere in New Zealand.

Standing in the pebbled carpark, unsure at which end of the enormous house I should seek entry, Kuriheka was indeed a fable that had materialised. I had even tried to visit once before, that time mistakenly spending a couple of pleasant hours about 15km away at Totara Estate, the birthplace of New Zealand's frozen meat export industry.

But now I was here, feeling much like I had at last reached Avalon. And if I was a knight errant then striding towards me was the keeper of the Holy Grail, Tim Nichols, great grandson of Kuriheka's founder, Colonel Joseph Cowie Nichols, CBE.

The colonel bought the 12,545ha Kuriheka Station in 1885, built his grand, 32-room homestead and gathered into its bosom a collection that is eclectic, sometimes eccentric, and often internationally significant.

It boasts Chippendale and Sheraton furniture, paintings by renowned artists, the world's largest private war-medal collection, 550-year-old books, indigenous pre-European artefacts, royal suits of armour, and 7th-century Near Eastern ceramics.

It is this sum total, Avalon and Grail, homestead and collection, on which Tim and his wife Wendy are expending themselves to preserve and make available for all New Zealanders.

Tim led me around the back into a surprisingly spartan kitchen, a private portion of the house devoid of the floor-to-ceiling opulence that awaited through a door just meters away.

Here, he began to recount Kuriheka's history; how Joseph's mother Mary had the first stage of the homestead built in 1889 as a wedding gift for Joseph and his bride, Helen Ayre of New South Wales, Australia.

Mary was able to give such a wedding gift because of the fortune amassed by her husband Charles, an astute businessman and partner in the prosperous Pacific-rim trading company Dalgety Nichols and Co, said Tim as he opened the door to that original gifted portion which is now the drawing room.

Confronting us was an ornate room brought to life by stained-glass windows displaying the coats of arms of Nichols' families and the schools Joseph and his siblings attended in England. The walls of the drawing room and the dining room were adorned with watercolours by Mary.

The beautifully carved oak chairs around the mahogany dining table caught my eye. They were the creation of Pip Gurnsey who was most well known for his work in Canterbury, including the Bridge of Remembrance in Cashel St, Christchurch, Tim said.

The family had made good use of this celebrated artist, also commissioning him for the gorgeous carved wood and stonework inside the outwardly unremarkable church of St Andrew's in Maheno.

Joseph attended Cambridge University and, after returning to New Zealand via Egypt and India, went to Australia to learn farming. When he bought Kuriheka at auction in 1885 he brought back with him a large assortment of Aboriginal weapons.

These are displayed on the ceiling of the spacious entrance hall, while on its walls are Maori weapons, including a pre-European taiaha, a cloak given to Joseph by Chief Iaumata of Otopu in 1884, and weapons and tools from Fijian and other Pacific cultures.

After 21 years living in Kuriheka Tim was still making discoveries. A recent surprise came when he noticed the date carved on a hunting horn adorned with zebra and birds, which had sat in the entrance hall for as long as he could remember.

The date: 1461. To be able to view such an antiquity was amazing. To see it sitting on a hallway table instead of behind security glass was a little concerning.

By a strange coincidence, the study's library contained books printed that same year.

The study also houses all of Joseph's diaries from age 16 to his death in 1954 at 95.

Tim had grown up in another house on the property and only came to the homestead "to visit grandparents and pinch scones from the kitchen".

But having made his own way in the world he returned to take on the upkeep of Kuriheka because, as the oldest of his generation, he felt it was his responsibility. The role has become increasingly difficult, Tim said with surprising candour.

"Sometimes I think we should never have come back here. We survive through my wife's father's estate. We are looking after one family's assets with another family's income," he admitted.

The various corridors were a little disorienting but they were also a military buff's wonderland. The colonel was keenly interested in military life and commanded the Otago Mounted Rifles Brigade. The central corridors are adorned with militaria of all descriptions. Most notable is the war medal collection which, with 624 medals, is believed to be the largest such private collection in the world.

A large number of Maori Land War medals and medals from conflicts in China are displayed, as well as a full collection of British campaign medals from the Battle of Waterloo up to and including the World War II Stars, Defence and Merchant Marine medals.

A two-storeyed, Victorian section of the homestead was added in 1905, but the final stage of construction took place in 1927, prompted by the imminent arrival of eight-and-a-half tonnes of household effects from Ireland.

The splendid Scottish Baronial Hall, with its 4.6m stud, oak parquet floor and grand central fireplace, houses much of that collection. On the walls are displays of weapons from Europe, Asia and Africa, while in the corners stand suits of armour, including one reputedly worn by France's King Louis XIV as a teenager.

The portraits of Mary and her sister Emily, painted by J.J. Shannon once hung in the Tate Gallery in London. Other works of significance include Fatima by Brewtnall, Pandora by pre-Raphaelite Henerietta Ray, and scenes by Livingston and Emily Stuart Browning. Most of Ray's paintings were given to the Tate by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The house is a living museum as the Nichols use all the rooms when they need to. I tried vainly to picture them, after visitors had left, pulling the television out of its cupboard, stepping over the barrier ropes and relaxing on the grand hall's Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite furniture to watch a spot of Shortland Street.

Within a decade of completing Kuriheka homestead the Great Depression and the consequential Mortgagors Relief Act forced Joseph to place the buildings and 186ha of freehold land in trust.

The Kuriheka Settlement Trust was intended to ensure Kuriheka homestead could not be lost and was maintained in good order. As a result, Tim and Wendy and with their two children occupied the house in 1984.

In September 2000, determined to find a way to keep their pledge, they opened Kuriheka for guided tours. Tim believes tourism holds the best potential for its upkeep and development. In fewer than five years 4500 people have visited Kuriheka. Tim would also like to see Kuriheka vested in the Historic Places Trust.

"Visitors are astounded by what they see, and quite rightly. We've had people fly down to Dunedin, drive to Kuriheka, then drive and fly directly home again.

"Kuriheka is an unbelievable national treasure. It is a national treasure being looked after by a family."

CHECKLIST

Getting there
Kuriheka Homestead is 8km west of Maheno, off State Highway 1, about 21km southwest of Oamaru and an hour's drive north of Dunedin. Air New Zealand has nine flights a day between Auckland and Dunedin. Fares start from $119 one way.

Hours
Kuriheka is open to visitors every day from September to the end of April except for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Visiting is by appointment only and Tim and Wendy Nichols can be contacted by telephone, (03) 439 5358, or via their website.  Admission is $15 adults and $10 students.

What to see
Oamaru, with its whitestone buildings, active port-side historic precinct, lively arts culture and southern friendliness is a favourite provincial town. Heritage celebrations are held in mid-November. In February the town hosts its annual food and wine festival and also its biennial stone-carving symposium.

Accommodation ranges from the Kingsgate Brydone Hotel to bed-and-breakfast accommodation in the Anne Mieke Guest House, or the Criterion Victorian pub.