Living and Working on Ponui
Much of our work recently has been doing renovation. While the make-do style of many of Waiheke’s old buildings can make this challenging work there is a lot of history in these old homes. This is a photo of Karl’s Grandfather (Thomas Wilfred Davies), Great Aunt, Great Grandfather (Thomas Montgomery Davies) and Great Grandmother (Kathleen) on the steps of their home on Ponui. At one point erosion meant they had to drag the house back from the beach using a team of bullocks! Karl was lucky enough to work on Ponui when he started building (shed below), he, his father and uncle had some pretty impressive workers accommodation (red house below). They would have loved to renovate some of these other lovely old homes pictured, but it wasn’t to be at the time. We’d love to know if any of them are still standing!
The Foster Davies Team
This is a photo of the Foster and Davies team from around the late 90’s – Young Karl, his uncle Owen, Lee, Mac the Dog, Karl’s dad Graham and Dan. They are sitting on the deck of the house that Owen’s father built in the 1950’s on Coromandel Rd. The house was later lived in by Graham’s parents and then owned by Karl’s cousin. When this photo was taken they were renovating it for some new owners who had asked them to do the job without knowing about the family connection to the house! Those owners purchased the house for a little over $220,000 and sold it 10 years later for over $850,000. Bizarrely they sold to buy another house on the Island that Owen’s parents had owned!