TAMLYN STEWART

Gunyah Country Estate is reaping the rewards of its determination to repair and rebuild after the historic home near Hororata took a beating in the September 4 quake last year.

Chimneys collapsed into bedrooms at the 98-year-old homestead and major repairs were needed, but owner Simonetta Ferrari was determined to rebuild and reopen.

Four months after September, Gunyah reopened to guests.

Ferrari said she had guests booked for January 3 and had not wanted to turn anyone away.

Guests have kept coming, despite builders hammering away onsite every day since September 4.

Local and overseas visitors have continued to make bookings for special occasions such as wedding anniversaries, 60th birthday celebrations and some South Island fishing, and have been so impressed with their accommodation they have voted the guest house into first place in the retreat section of the Golden Koru People’s Choice Awards. The awards, in their sixth year, recognise excellence in the event planning industry and are voted for by the public.

Gunyah’s bookings have been good this year, even though they have not followed the normal pattern.

The country estate had been fully insured and had had no hassles with their insurer, she said

The chimneys have been rebuilt with steel flues and lightweight coverings so they retained the character of the house and were functional.

The builders had become like family, she said, because they had been in her house every day since September last year.

Earthquakes have not been the only challenge for Ferrari, who is also a landscape designer – a fire in an outbuilding destroyed her studio, which contained her landscape design records, tools and all her artwork.

“I’ve lost every single pencil and beautiful sable paintbrush.

“That’s when it almost got me, that part, when the building went down, I felt part of me had gone.”

Ferrari said after her studio was destroyed she had a moment when she considered giving up.

“And then I thought `No, no, no.’

“Once the building is back up I will start all over again, no problem.”

What has kept Ferrari going during the past year of quakes and a devastating fire?

“The dream, maybe.

I’m happy here, I’m absolutely blissfully happy here.

“And the fact that I’m midlife so there’s plenty of life ahead to carry on, to develop.”

Supportive friends and a “godsend” of a builder had helped her through, she said.

Ferrari said builder Gary French had been fantastic.

“I rang him up that morning in September.

“I rang him up about 10 to seven in the morning and said `Quick, Gary, have you got props or something because it’s going to come down’.”

French turned up within 10 minutes and within an hour he returned with his building crew.

“And he’s been here ever since, and nothing is ever a problem,” Ferrari said.

French and his wife were the unsung heroes behind the rebuild and reopening of Gunyah, she said, while she was the “slave driver” who kept everyone on task, she said.

The rebuild of the main homestead, with just one room and two bathrooms still needing some work, was expected to be completed before the start of the ski season and she hoped her studio would be rebuilt by June.

– © Fairfax NZ News