BYGONE MAGNIFICENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1935, Page 8

BYGONE MAGNIFICENCE

OLD HOMESTEAD FOR SALE LYSAGHT PROPERTY AT MOKOIA. ONCE SHOW PLACE OF DISTRICT. In its heyday one of the finest examples of a colonial establishment founded on English tradition, the historic Mokoia farm and homestead of the Lysaght family was yesterday offered at auction. It failed to reach the reserve, however, and was passed in at £1650, the highest bid received. It is understood that negotiations are in progress for a sale of the house and property of 81 acres to the highest bidder at yesterday’s sale. A large attendance included representatives from all parts of Taranaki and from as far south as Wanganui. Good prices were obtained for the contents of the house, the auction of which was conducted by Messrs. H. M. Caselberg and H. Smith. The land sale was conducted by Mr. Allan Evans. The Farmers’ Co-operative Organisation Society Ltd. was the agent. The homestead, which is one of the largest and best known in South Taranaki, was erected about 60 years ago by the late Mr. J. R. Lysaght as a home for himself and his wife and family of 11. Mr. Lysaght died many years ago, and, until her death recently, the house was occupied by one of his daughters, Miss Mary Lysaght. It is situated on the main road between Hawera and Mokoia, just south of the Tangahoe deviation. Formerly it was approached from the road through a belt of tree?, but a few years ago these were claimed for more practical use by sawmillers. Around the homestead there are gardens and bush that once made the property one of the show places of the district. Now, however, the gardens are to some extent overgrown.

The house, which contains 19 rooms, is equal in size to about three large modern dwellings. Constructed principally of kauri and totara, it must have been well built to withstand the passing of so many years. It is divided into three main sections, the front part, the bedroom wing and the servants’ wing, nine bedrooms are built along a passage 90 feet in length. All the rooms have high panelled walls and ceilings instead of wallpaper, and so solid is their construction that a conversation can be carried on in one room without the faintest sound of it being heard in an adjoining room.

There are more than 50 windows in the house, many of them opening full length on to a verandah, which runs along the front and one side of the homestead. A box-room and a lamp-trimming room, survivals of the early English homesteads, pre to be found in the old house, and much of their contents bear evidence of English traditions. Sheep-farming was carried on on some thousands of acres in earlier days, but the passage of time and the progress of dairying has reduced the amount of land attached to the homestead to a comparatively small area. The family entertained frequently and well and had a number of servants. Their coaches and carriages were for many years well known at Hawera and other parts of the district. The “men of the road” were always assured of a welcome at the Lysaght homestead, a small whare being frequently occupied by them.