THE LUXURY TRAVEL
MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT
TRAVELLERS

Drive to Governor's Bay and spend the next two days with Barry Sligh in Taunton Gardens' Jack's Cottage before driving to the Christchurch Airport and heading home. The drive from Christchurch to the peak of the hill before descending to Governor's Bay is agonizing. Why? Because the vista of Lyttelton Harbor is so magnificent and there is no place to pull over to stop and appreciate it or take a photo. Nevertheless, should that be my only agony on this visit, it would be well worth the pain. Jack’s Cottage is a Heritage & Character Inn on the property of Taunton Gardens, Barry Sligh’s nursery. The nursery and gardens are prize winning and it is immediately apparent why.

The property is set in a valley with a stream running down to the sea and a backdrop of mountains. The garden itself is an evolutionary process of the past 35 years of reclaiming it from grazing sheep. Barry’s passion for flora infuses every angle of this property. Amazingly, there are a vast variety of plants growing in harmony from every corner of the earth. Hundreds of rhododendrons, hostas, trilliums, Arisaemas and many rare and unusual plants growing happily under magnolias, maples, cornus and the centerpiece of the garden, a magnificent 150 year old Quercus Cerris (Turkish Oak) which stands guard on the north side of the stone homestead. The garden is colorful and fragrant year round, a truly astounding feat, given the variation in climate here from season to season.

Barry, like most of the B&B owners in New Zealand is an unusual fellow. He began his business career in the tannery business, moved on to manufacturing leather goods, fashioning Italian designed garments, from New Zealand skins, processed in Spain and exported to Japan (quite a mouthful). Later he opened up a series of retail shops, including handmade knitwear, and lastly – at least for now – this exquisite nursery, which exports plants all over the world, including to Prince Charles himself, and the guest house set amidst its splendor.

The cottage is a separate structure and there is only one of them. You and your partner, child or friend will be the only ones to stay here. The property was originally purchased in 1851 when 50 acres were bought sight unseen, for a whopping 150 Pounds Sterling by Mr. Vigers of Taunton, England. He showed up a year later and built the original stone house, which is now the main house of the estate. Until Barry’s purchase in 1972, there were no gardens, and the cottage, which is now the guest residence, was little more than a shack. The main house, by the time Barry became the owner, was in a questionable state and had become architectural melting pot, having been changed, not always for the better, over the years. Barry restored it from scratch, finding a myriad of surprises including stone under the siding, a stone fireplace under ugly pink tile and many other little joys that make the house in its current state quite splendid.

The guesthouse is a labor of love. Barry has re-built it from the ground up, using kiln-fired bricks, Rimu floors and ceilings and decorated it with furnishings he designed from turn-of-the-century objects converted for other purposes. For example, there is a lovely coffee table made from an original native kauri wash tub, a headboard in Australian jarrah wood from an old railway sleeper, curtain rods made from hand-forged iron stakes, a chest at the foot of the bed made from Baltic Pine, odd pieces of timber from sailing ships stationed in Lyttelton Harbor, trimmed with iron from fence posts, leather straps from a draught horse harness, and a handle from a Model T Ford abandoned on the property. There is a rimu screen dressed with 1870 pennies and découpaged with clippings from an old women’s magazine circa 1930, called ‘Wife and Home’ (don’t you love it?) that depict the life and times of the British Royal family. One of Barry’s oil paintings is hung on the wall. He made the frame from cross-members that were attached to a cultivation harrow. Lighting the cottage is a pair of old gig lamps taken from a horse wagon. They would have used candles at the time, but are now fitted with bulbs and wired for electricity. Another lamp was taken from a civic building in Christchurch and fashioned into a floor lamp by a friend who is a local artist. Even the visitor’s book is a treasure, made from kahikatea timber, with black pages; guests are asked to use the silver pen to sign it in apt contrast to the dark pages. The kitchenette is rimu with antique hardware and faced with screens as they did with meat safe boxes in days gone by. Barry explains that the air circulating through the cabinetry keeps things fresh. The bathroom is a conversational piece. An old porcelain hand-painted toilet designed by a British ‘toilet designer’ is a conversation piece. He got it from a boarding house in Akoroa and I have no reason to believe it was a house of ill-repute, but that would add to the story, wouldn’t it?

Barry will make dinner for you, if you like. Tonight we had venison with maori potatoes and a red pepper and green bean medley. That was accompanied by a Matua Valley Hawkes Bay 2006 Sauvignon Blanc. Dessert was a lovely dark chocolate mousse.

Breakfast can be eaten in your cottage or in the main house, according to your preference. Some might like a bit of privacy, I preferred Barry’s company. It’s not often that you get to meet a tanner turned retailer turned hospitality horticulturalist, and I thought I’d take advantage of the moment.