‘Heartbreaking’ to leave former 1880s schoolhouse on Akaroa Harbour

Dael and Roger Foy first arrived to see this sweet, two-storey cottage on the shores of Akaroa Harbour on a sunny day six years ago. And they decided on the spot that it would be the perfect holiday home.

“It was beautiful, and the views were amazing, and we just loved its character and simplicity,” Dael Foy says. “And it’s so well built. If you’re there in a winter storm and there’s a howling gale and crashing surf, it doesn’t move. It’s as solid as a rock and really cosy and warm inside.

The house was originally used as the local schoolhouse, and there’s a sign dating it back to 1885, but the couple did some research into education records. They believe the house was probably built in 1875.

Foy says it was actually built as a house for the schoolmaster. “But the first few children were taught here in the house before the first [Wainui] school was built.

“We think the larger size of the windows in this house, compared to other cottages in Akaroa built around the same time, was to bring light into the classroom for the children.”

The couple has maintained the house, which is built from solid kauri and rimu. They have been careful to keep the original character intact - they didn’t want to change too much. And they have even left existing wallpapers that run right across the ceilings in the two bedrooms on the top floor - the third bedroom is on the ground floor. “We’ve found all sorts of artefacts and bits and pieces as we’ve been gardening and repairing things, including a clay pipe from one of the original builders and some old cast iron nails. We’ve kept all of those and have them on the wall in a cute little printer’s tray.”

All the other traditional and rustic features you can expect from a 19th-century cottage remain, including painted boards lining some ceilings, dormer windows and the front veranda.

They say the house, which is an hour’s drive from Christchurch, has been a holiday home for many years: “The couple we bought it from had it as a holiday home for 30-odd years. They did a certain amount to it, and the Christchurch family that owned it before that also came out for holidays.

“We did live in it for six months before we came up here, a couple of months ago.”

The Foys are selling as they made a decision to move to Auckland to be near family.

“It’s heartbreaking to be leaving the cottage, but the reality of getting down there to maintain it gets too hard.”

But Dael Foy says deciding to sell has been “a bit of a process, due to the weather event we had”.

“We had a bit of a slip on the bank down to the road, but that is being repaired as of Monday (July 27). Contractors are arriving. It is being dealt to by geotech engineers and a well-known contractor, and it will be really well done and people won’t have to worry going into the future.”

Foy says Wainui is just seven or eight minutes by boat across the harbour to the pretty wee town of Akaroa.

“We have always had a boat and it’s lovely to go across to Akaroa for coffee and do some shopping. It’s so easy. You can sit in the sunshine, chat to people and come back again.

“Living here is very like New Zealand used to be 50 years ago. There are no shops or petrol stations, but there’s a charm about that. It means that it’s very slow and quiet, and you have that sense of being somewhere really peaceful.”

Kayaking, fishing and visiting the local salmon farm are other popular activities.

The property, at 34B Borru Rd, Wainui, Banks Peninsula, is listed with Phillipa Linton of Bayleys Akaroa, and is for sale by negotiation. It has a CV of $850,000.