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Kosbys Cottage is named after our black Labrador dog who enjoyed Rangataua Village as much as we did. He used to insist rather loudly to be let out of the car at the beginning of the Dreadnought (road that runs parallel with the railway line) to run the 6k’s all the way home – usually clocking about 35kph. He’d then stand in the pond that was at the end of the garden, panting and frothing wishing he still had some energy left to catch the frogs watching him. While we tired very quickly of the barking to be let out (and then salivating all over the babies), he never waived from the opportunity to run the Dreadnought and so fittingly, his final resting place is next to the river that runs along-side it.
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Sara, Vance, Maddi & Spencer
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We bought the property in 1996 and during this time it has evolved with us and has been our refuge from the real world (we had just established (but since sold) the still very busy Utopia Cafe in 1995). It’s seen volcanic eruptions two seasons in a row, watched two children – one born in the house; grow like weeds and has had many, many structural changes and improvements.
We were told that the house was built in 1911 for the local school teacher and was surrounded by a Macrocapa forest. Apparently in those days the houses were built with a steep pitch roof to ensure the snow slid off during the six weeks over winter that it settled – wouldn’t that be great! When the teacher died, the house was sold to the Robinsons who added the bathroom and a bedroom (now the kitchen) and used it solely as a winter ski chalet. When we bought it, there were still signs of the forest and an enormous willow jungle in what is now the pond corner. Over the last 20+ years we have tried to make the cottage as cosy and inviting as possible. We understand the need to stay warm during blizzards or Hoare frosts and cool against the searing 35°C summer heat so have renovated the house accordingly. A house this age will always be a ‘work-in-progress’ but we think that’s part of its charm. While we no longer live in the area, we love escaping to Kosbys Cottage and hope you enjoy all the area has to offer as much as we do.
We were told that the house was built in 1911 for the local school teacher and was surrounded by a Macrocapa forest. Apparently in those days the houses were built with a steep pitch roof to ensure the snow slid off during the six weeks over winter that it settled – wouldn’t that be great! When the teacher died, the house was sold to the Robinsons who added the bathroom and a bedroom (now the kitchen) and used it solely as a winter ski chalet. When we bought it, there were still signs of the forest and an enormous willow jungle in what is now the pond corner. Over the last 20+ years we have tried to make the cottage as cosy and inviting as possible. We understand the need to stay warm during blizzards or Hoare frosts and cool against the searing 35°C summer heat so have renovated the house accordingly. A house this age will always be a ‘work-in-progress’ but we think that’s part of its charm. While we no longer live in the area, we love escaping to Kosbys Cottage and hope you enjoy all the area has to offer as much as we do.