Ruatuna

This is Heritage New Zealand owned Property and despite it's status on the list (number seven) it is in need of help.

This 1870s farm homestead was the home base of Kaipara's favourite son, Joseph Gordon Coates. Te Ara has an excellent biography covering all his achievements.

One of the seven offspring of a manic depressive farmer, JG was a hard working local MP, and a gallant soldier on WW1, Coates rose to become a popular Prime Minister despite having little schooling other than at Matakohe Primary School.

This little pakeha whare is held in high regard for several reasons. Despite it's small size, the family was typically for the time, large. There are various additions all logical for the lifespan of such a farmhouse, including a lean-to bedroom built for JG upon his adolesence. The family were popular in the sparsely populated rurla area, and held parties here, some on the grass tennis court out front, which later became a concrete court.

With the farm mostly leasehold, the farmhouse and outbuildings were gifted to New Zealand Historic Places in 1976 and have been open to the public since

Image Credit: Heritage NZ