The Original Devenport Cottage

The original Devenport Cottage dates back to 1932 when the property was first registered by Norman Carroll, farmer of Korokoro. Consisting of One Acre One Rood Thirty Six and Seven Tenths Perches. The property was mortgaged to Patrick Coles in 1936. The property was then transferred to Frederick Sydney Devenport Slaughterman of Petone in 1938, and the mortgage renegotiated with Patrick Coles.

The property remained with Mr Devenport until its transfer to The Public Trustee in 1992. Various extensions were added to the cottage over the 54 years. It consisted of: a kitchen/bathroom, living room and single bedroom. There was an adjoining laundry shed/workshop complete with copper laundry tub, and a separate out-house. The site services included gas, water and electricity however all hot water was done via a wet-back from the gas cooker which only fed the bath. There was no sewerage on site.

Sketch of Devenport CottageView to Devenport CottageFred Devenport

After the death of Mr Devenport, the property soon became derelict and remained on the market for almost six years.

Being sold in 1994, and then immediately put back on the market and remained a vacant plot for almost six years. The cottage was vandalised, burnt and started to collapse. The property was purchased by Alasdair MacDonald in August 1996. The Cottage was finally demolished by the Petone Trust in 1997 ready for the construction of Devenport Estate. Salvaging from the cottage was restricted given the state of the Cottage but the following items were salvaged: bath [resurfaced], living room door [now the laundry cupboard door], chimney bricks [now in the kitchen] and various bottles/tea pots/pewter mug found buried on the section, and the laundry concrete tub and taps [now on the verandah].

Looking into Devenport CottageDerelict Cottage

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Web Page Updated: 26th March 2006

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