LARNACH CASTLE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4338, 13 February 1875, Page 5

LARNACH CASTLE.

From the Country Reporter of the Otago Daily Times.) One of the most magnificent private residences in New Zealand, even if its equal exists in the whole of Australasia, is Lamaoh Castle, on the Peninsula. To furnish anything like a critical description of this really beautifully romantic and interesting structure, with its concomitant belongings, .would be impossible from a mere cursory visit; yet I have no doubt but that the results of my observations will be read with interest by country readers who may not be acquainted with the place. When a gentleman, by his business tact and ability, has achieved an honorable and independent position, especially in a newlysettled country, how much more satisfactory it is to see him founding for himself and his family a home in that land where the sun of prosperity has shone so pleasantly upon him, than to find him husbanding his gains to be expended in some favorite part of Europe possessing no other attractions than that it was perhaps the place of his birth or that of his ancestors. Mr. W. J. M. Lamach is a colonist in the true sense of the word, and his efforts in founding such a home in his adopted land for those that may come after him, and which must ever be viewed with pride by the young scions of the founder of the estate, are well worthy of emulation. Xiamach Castle is plainly distinguishable from every point that commands a view of the beautiful Bay of Dunedin, and, perched as it is on a high hill overlooking the sea, its magnificent proportions loom grandly in the distance, as the little clearing in the dense forest which once occupied the site reveals the massive looking stately pile. Although distant some twelve miles from Dunedin, from any one part of the town where a view of the Bay and Peninsula is obtainable it forms a strikingly prominent object. The structure is • built in the medreval style of architecture, and no baronial residence conceived by the knights or barons of the middle ages was ever more truly built to resist the wear and tear of time than the one X am now writing about. The mansion stands grandly upon a little flat terrace—partly natural and partly artificial—and which crowns the hill top, the elevation above sea level being something approaching 500 feet. The materials used in the construction of the building may be said to be imperishable. The great blocks of hard glazed looking trachyte which compose the outer and inner walls are calculated to withstand the effects of wind and weather for ages to come. Even granite could not be more durable. Some of the large blocks of dressed stone present a beautifully marked face, as the different hues of the hard rock that compose this conglomerate blend harmoniously together, and which would bear a high polish. The copings and facings are of hard freestone, but where the work is strictly of an ornamental character, Oamaru stone has been used. Some of the mural carvings, especially at the entrance halls and rich oriel and bay windows, are of a very high order. Instead of the old-fashioned balustrade where armed retainers might discharge their missiles from, the peaceable times in which we live permit of the substitution of an immense iron verandah—a work of art in itself —many of the ornamental eastings being really elaborate—dividing the upper from the lower story. Here at all times, and in all weathers, will bo a most comfortable promenade. Shelter from the rain, wind, or sunshine may be obtained merely by shifting the position ; while, should it ever be desired to view the surrounding landscape, and the weather be ever so unpropitious, protection mil be provided by recesses in the angles glazed with plate glass. The entrance halls and passages, also tie promenade surrounding the, house under the lower verandah, are all laid with tesselated pavement and mosaic work, the many-colored and curiously-shaped tiles having been eipressly imported from England. The pavement at the grand entrance is really beautiful, the centre tile bearing the motto and monogam of the worthy owner. Only the apartments of the lower storey arc finished at present the busy hands of the workmen being utill aitively engaged in the upper, which, bowevei, will contain all the principal apartments. So far as at present completed, the interior arrangements are of unequalled magnificence The walls and ceilings are all plastered wih Keen’s cement, which sets as hard and as imooth as marble, and as white as alabaster The skirtings and wainscoatings are all ol colonial timber. No paint is used in

any of the interior parts. The beautifully grained native woods, wrought up by polishing and varnishing, present colors that nature alone imprinted, and arc vastly superior to what could be artificially produced. This arrangement pervades throughout the entire interior portions of the building ; and when the many varieties of tinted woods used, especially those in the construction of the grand staircase —every step of which alternates — are seen in contradistinction to each other, the effect will be magnificent. The fireplaces and mantelpieces are perfect gems of art; each aperture is lined with many colored tiles of the most elaborate design ; and when I say that each little square presents a picture in itself, I am in reality speaking within the mark. Crowning the building are the battlements, with their white embrasures, and which mainly bestow upon the whole structure its strictly castellated appearance. High up in one corner of the battlements is the watch or look-out tower, reached by a spiral staircase of solid stone, each part being dovetailed into the other with geometrical precision. The view from this is simply grand, and f«r fully five-sixths of a circle the eye rests upon nothing but the broad expanse of ocean. The land view is very fine, and commands a prospect, embracing the high ranges for fully fifty miles distant. Eor the building of this stupendous structure, Mr. Lamach provided -himself the whole of the materials used ; he employed the best of workmen, paid the very best of wages, and, as a natural consequence, got the • very best of work done. A very large amount of timber used was sawn in the bush close at hand on the estate. The stone, where practicable, was likewise quarried on the property, with thp exception of that imported from Oamaru. Every possible precaution is provided against fire, the whole of the floors being underlaid with asphalte, in fact, the house would scarcely bum beyond the chamber where the fire originated. Larnach Castle, it will be seen, is .not only a striking monument of natiye industry, but may be considered as a native product also; The grounds surrounding the mansion have not, of course, been reduced to order yet, nevertheless, a great deal has been done in the shape of preliminary arrangements, and a large collection of choice trees of every hue and clime, suitable to Otago, are arranged in rows in the nursery, ready for planting out when the proper season arrives. While providing with an unsparing hand for his own personal comfort, Mr. Lamach has, upon a scale of equal liberality, provided for his dependants, who possess most comfortable quarters in the farm buildings, at a convenient distance from the mansion. Everything and everybody connected with the estate looks well to do and happy ; the cattle grazing on the rich pasture, or the sheep browsing on the hill-sides, are alike well-conditioned and cared for, and apparently enjoy life with that spirit of contented ease that only those possessing an abundance of everything can do, even the sleek and shiny-coated horses frisk about the paddocks as if they would seem to say, this is the right sort of place to live at. To create such an estate as Lamach Castle, and conjure it, as it were, out of the wilderness—hitherto the place was only looked upon as an eminence unfitted for the residence of bipeds—was a thorough achievement, while at the same time it shows on the pai-t of the owner, a wise discrimination and knowledge of how to put to good and profitable use what other persons would fain despise. If any fault has been committed, it is the very pardonable one, that Mr. Lamach has seen further than his neighbors, and has profited thereby. Whatever may prove the cost of this palatial building, I am unable to say ; but that it will comprise a sum amounting to quite a little fortune, is a very moderate calculation. The hospitable munificence of the owner is in keeping with the magnificence of his establishment; and, judging from my own experiences, I think I may safely say, that I can scarcely know which to admire the most. A visit to Larnach Castle is a day well spent—the visitor, in imagination, can fancy himself transported to another sphere.