Gear Homestead, named Okowai ('muddy water') by its owner James Gear, is a historic building in

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

, New Zealand. It was listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (since renamed to Heritage New Zealand) as a Category 2 historic place in 1983. Gear Homestead is significant because of its association with

James Gear James Gear ( – 5 April 1911) was a New Zealand butcher, farmer and businessman. Biography He was born in Ilchester, Somerset, England in about 1839. Gear founded the Gear Meat Preserving and Freezing Company at Petone in 1882 and was its man ...

, a butcher who founded the Gear Meat Preserving and Freezing Company. The company was one of the largest employers in Wellington and also played a large part in the development of Petone. The building was designed by Robert Edwards and built in 1887 by William Hartley. It was constructed of matai, totara and kauri, and the wall on the south side is about 30 cm thick and filled with sawdust for insulation against southerly winds. When James Gear's health declined and he was confined to a wheelchair, he had a cottage built behind the house, with a ramp connecting it to the main house. He lived in the cottage with a nurse and manservant, separate from his family. The house remained in the ownership of the Gear family until 1967, and in 1975 it was bought by Poriurua City Council. In the early to mid 1980s, the historic building was used as a major location in

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's first film, ''Bad Taste''. The building was home to the Iredale and Tiegan family in the 1995 children’s TV series ''Mirror, Mirror'' (TV series), and in 2007 it was used as a location in the horror movie ''When Night Falls''. The homestead is now a cafe/bar/restaurant and is open 7 days a week.

References

Houses in New Zealand 1880s architecture in New Zealand NZHPT Category II listings in the Wellington Region Buildings and structures in Porirua {{NewZealand-struct-stub