Grand old home for sale

One of the oldest and most prestigious homes in Wairarapa is on the market.

Carrington House at the northern end of Carterton, owned by Shirley and John Cameron but historically known as the Booth Homestead, is being marketed by Clark & Co Realty with no asking price but by negotiation.

Built in 1874, the homestead sits on 6.9ha of lawns and gardens including an English Garden designed by Alfred Buxton in 1912.

Included in the sale of the property are two cottages, stables, outbuildings and six-car garaging.

The elaborate home has a floor area of 811m2, includes a drawing room complete with a Steinway concert grand piano holding centre stage, a family room, formal study, grand dining room, adjacent powder room and butler’s pantry, and country style kitchen.

Upstairs are four large bedrooms each with ensuite and access to verandahs looking out over the gardens, a library, and a lounge.

At the front entrance to the home is a centrepiece double staircase in native wood.

Until recently the Cameron family opened the gardens to visitors and the property boasts 20,000 daffodils that were planted in 1992.

Last year $5000 was raised for Life Flight by allowing people to pick daffodils for a gold coin donation.

Carrington Estate was originally the home of one of Carterton’s most prominent citizens William Booth, who had the house moved back from the road to where it now is, using traction engines in 1894.

The Booths had a sawmill built on the estate and the timber used in the construction of the house was the best quality native timber milled by them.

Carrington House is registered with New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category 2 Historic Place and joined New Zealand Garden Trust as a Garden of Significance in 2013.

On the property are several century-old trees amid sequoias, birches, elms, rhododendrons, camellias and red robins.