Historic cheese-making site for sale

The "Springfield" homestead built on Otago Peninsula in 1864 by Scottish immigrant John Mathieson...
The "Springfield" homestead built on Otago Peninsula in 1864 by Scottish immigrant John Mathieson. Photo supplied.
A historic Otago Peninsula homestead - the base for New Zealand's first co-operative cheese factory in 1871 - is for sale, along with 15ha of farmland.

The "Springfield" homestead, a bluestone-walled building high up on the peninsula with harbour and city views, was built by Scottish immigrant John Mathieson in 1864.

The 15.72ha property was listed as category 1 by the Historic Places Trust (HPT) in 1988 as being of historical significance and architectural quality. Then, in 2006, owners Marly and Peter Wheen completed significant restoration work with a conservation architect, under HPT guidance.

The property is on two titles, which can be bought together or separately: one covering 0.72ha, including the three-bedroom 235sq m homestead and outbuildings, and the other covering 15ha of farmland, with resource consent to build a second dwelling.

Bayleys Dunedin residential/lifestyle salesman Miles Rapley said that in 1871, local dairy farmers met in Springfield and formed the Otago Peninsula Cheese Factory Company, New Zealand's first co-operative cheese factory.

"In the first season, the co-operative's eight members produced a total of four tons of cheese," Mr Rapley said in a statement.

The property is being revalued because of the extent of restorations, and Mr Rapley expects both titles could be sold together for more than $1 million.

The restoration work uncovered the original flagstone paving underneath the master bedroom's floorboards, which became a bedroom feature, while the lounge has its original vaulted ceiling and features a single-bunk attic bed of the original owner.

"Significantly, this was the first dairy co-operative set up in New Zealand," Mr Rapley said.

The methods used at Springfield served as a model for the development and expansion of the dairy industry for the next 100 years, based on the co-operative model and paving the way for subsequent agricultural business models, he said.

The co-operative operated in a stone-walled barn and part of the kitchen for four years.

Three enamelled cast-iron tubs, each holding up to 50 pounds of curd, were set in the kitchen wing, while a wooden vat holding 100 gallons of milk was installed in the barn across the driveway.

The cheese-making was shifted to a new brick factory in Pukehiki in 1875, while John Mathieson and, later, son James farmed the property until 1917.

 

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