A South Island teacher who bought the school she attended for $500 and saved it from being firewood is now selling it as part of her rural lifestyle property.
Judy Grigor’s father was part of the board instrumental in getting the Gore Bay Primary School, Hurunui District, in North Canterbury, built in 1929 and she attended it as a young schoolgirl between 1943 and 1948.
The school closed a year later when the roll dwindled to just five students. It was then used as a community hall first on its original site at the south end of Gore Bay – now known as the Old School Reserve – before being moved to the Gore Bay Campground.
The campground owners put it up for tender in 1980 so they could make room for more campers. Grigor and her husband made an offer.
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Grigor told OneRoof that the only other interested party had wanted it for firewood so they won it for $500.
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She and her husband John had been living in Tauranga with their three young children and bought it to put on her parents’ farm so they could stay in it when they visited rather than towing their caravan such a long way.
Her parents also owned a section on the other side of the road which they later gifted to the couple, and the school was moved again. Its final journey was when it was shifted a few metres sideways in the early 1990s so the couple could build their retirement home on the best-elevated spot on the property.
Grigor said the same moving company had shifted it each time and told them after its last move that if they planned to do it again then they should call someone else. “They thought it had probably been moved as many times as it should be.”
The school has been well maintained and still includes the original chalkboard. Photo / Supplied
Gore Bay School in December 1943. Judy Grigor, back when she was Judith Wilkinson, is in the front row at the far right. Photo / Supplied
Her husband’s job as a principal took them all over the country, but when he chose to retire early they headed back to Gore Bay.
Grigor has lived there for 33 years and said her house had been warm and cosy and the school has provided additional accommodation for friends, family and as an Airbnb. More recently she has had a long-term tenant staying in it when he was house hunting.
While many of the single-room schools in the district are now being used as barns or woolsheds, the Gore Bay school had been carefully repaired after the Christchurch earthquakes and had been well maintained including re-roofed.
The original chalkboard was still a feature of the building and guests liked to leave fun messages for the next people to see before they left.
Gore Bay School in the early 1930s. Photo / Supplied
Gore Bay School is transported on the back of a truck after its sale in 1980. Photo / Supplied
“It’s a very special little building that has weathered all – it’s interesting times and life – very well. It’s very solid.”
Grigor, who is 85, was sad to be leaving Gore Bay after such a long connection with the area but said it was time to move to a smaller property in town.
The great-grandmother already drove an hour to Rangiora each week with a friend to attend a local aqua aerobics class and do her shopping and was planning to move there permanently.
“It’s time to go. I don’t want to. I love my orchard and my vege garden and the nut trees and the citrus trees, but commonsense tells me it’s time to go.”
It was getting harder to carry out some of the work around the property herself and she was paying more to get people to help maintain the property than what she was earning in her pension, she said.
Judy and John Grigor built the two-bedroom cottage on the best spot on the 1.73ha section for their retirement home. Photo / Supplied
Gore Bay's population surges during summer as people flock to the popular surf beach. The school can be rented out as an Airbnb. Photo / Supplied
During winter there are only about seven homes occupied, or according to Wikipedia 14 permanent residents, but in summer Gore Bay is a thriving holiday spot.
“In the summer it’s bursting at the seams. Both campgrounds (Gore Bay Campground and Buxton Camp) are full and booked a year ahead mostly. And all of the holiday homes are full just before Christmas and at Easter and Labour weekend and times like that.”
Grigor said her 1.73ha property had been her private oasis and she would miss all the birdsong, fruit trees and peace and quiet.
“It’s warm, it’s comfortable, it has great views, it’s close to the beach, it’s close to hill and walks through the Buxton Stream.”
- 670 Gore Bay Road, Gore Bay, in Hurunui, is for sale for offers over $800,000
