Protected Railway Houses of Otaki

Very few of the hundreds of railway houses in New Zealand are protected by Heritage Status. But these two here on Mill Road are, while the entire town of Otira in the Southern Alps has has railways origins and is not on the list.

Nevertheless this pair have merits in their pure original condition, complete with the massive rear section that was traditionally used as a vegetable garden and orchard for the family, the plots even larger than those belonging to the set at Moera in Lower Hutt. The 1920s model of Railway House was prefabricated in a purpose built factory at Frankton, and shipped in kitset form around the country to be erected often by the railwayman himself. Most are now privately owned.

Inside the simple layout was based around a villa form, but on smaller scale, with a central corridor, and services towards the rear. If you want to see and the simple functional form that housed many railway families last century, and still shelters many New Zealanders today, here they are.