Women’s Hostel for Massey College

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 58, 11 March 1944, Page 4

Women’s Hostel for Massey College

MONRO HOMESTEAD BLOCK ACQUIRED. The homestead block at Fitzherberfc West which has been in the possession of the Monro family for 54 years, has been acquired by the Massey College Board of Governors. This 14*roomed homestead, built by the late Mr. C. J. Monro in 1890, is now being used to accommodate some of the women students taking the College’s horticultural and general farming courses. An annexe of five Army hute, adapted to feminine use, has also had to be provided to house the increasing number of enrolments from women. The purchase of this block has been made possible through a long-standing legacy in the will of the late Mm. Moginie, of Auckland, who during her lifetime did much to assist in providing University women with facilities for training in horticultural and agricultural pursuits. The hostel will be known as Moginie House, in terms of the will, and the property, which has not entailed the use of any Government funds, will be subject to the payment by the Board of Governors of local body rates. The homestead block, from which a magnificent view of the Manawatu district, with Ruapehu and Egmont in the background, can be obtained on a clear day, comprises about six acres on the terrace adjoining the main College buildings, and about six acres of shrubbery and unspoiled native bush. Remodelling of the old-world garden surrounding the house will provide landscape work for the horticultural students who will also attend to a small citrus orchard to be established for their practical training along a sheltered portion of the terrace, and will improve the floor of the native bush by the establishment of a greater variety of ferns and mossy growths.