The Vallance Cottage Working Group has been working on a solution to make the historic cottage and well-known reserve more accessible to people and to tell its stories, without the need for volunteers.
In the past couple of years, a call for more volunteers to help keep the cottage open for visitors has not been overly successful. As a result, the working group has had to get creative and come up with alternative solutions.
A remote locking system has been installed to unlock the front door at 9am and relock it at 4pm. The public can then access the cottage for viewing without the need for a volunteer to be present. The working group aims to have this operational from September to April each year, and visitors are encouraged to give a koha in the donation box beside the information panel.
The working group will continue to operate the popular open days and will be on hand to talk about the cottage in person. The next two open-days are on Sunday 25 September and Sunday 23 October, 10am to 2pm.
With assistance from the Otago Museum, the working group is also devising a project plan to bring the stories of the cottage to life. It is proposed to have museum students collate all of the story information, and upload the content onto the Vallance Cottage and Reserve page on www.centralotagonz.com. This content can also be accessed by visitors via QR codes, which will be placed through the cottage and reserve.
“Maybe a visitor will click on the QR code to look at the family album to see what life looked like in the 1900s,” Central Otago District Council Property and Facility Officer Christina Martin said.
“Or listen to Aunt Hazel’s account of her life in the cottage, or watch a video of Beryl talking about the historic lilac collection she donated to the reserve, or download a worksheet that can be used by primary or high school students as part of their New Zealand history lessons.
“The potential to grow the interactivity is really exciting to the working group, but the first aim is to get the cottage open and available to the public to enjoy.”
While in the early stages of planning, the aim of this work is to enable visitors to have an interactive experience without the need for volunteers to be present.
A post on the Council’s Facebook will be made once the cottage is open.
The stories of the cottage have been divided into the following categories:
Vallance Cottage
William and Jean Vallance: Stories of the construction of the cottage, and growing family home 1896-1945
Aunt Hazel: Stories of Aunt Hazel’s life in the cottage. She was the youngest daughter and lived in the cottage until the 1970s.
Family Holidays: Descendants’ memories of the cottage and using the cottage as a holiday destination 1970–1980.
Save the cottage: The story of the transfer of the cottage to CODC, the demolition order, and work done by the community to save the cottage 1980- 2000s.
Into the future: Stories of the more recent work done on the cottage and reserve.
Vallance Cottage Reserve
History of the Reserve
Lilac collection
Community Orchard
Proposed Biodiversity Border
The working group, which includes the descendants of William and Jean Vallance, has a number of photos, written recollections, and oral history of the cottage, but is keen to receive more.
People can contribute by going onto the Council’s webpage (under Upload files – Vallance Cottage): https://mycodc.codc.govt.nz/do-it-online/problems-requests-submissions
The next Vallance Cottage working group meeting will be held Thursday 15 September 2022, 12 pm at the Council’s Alexandra Service Centre, 1 Dunorling Street.
