Ravenhill & Hellaby's Butchery (94-98 Hinemoa Street)

Ravenhill was W. F. Hammond’s original private residence. It covered nearly 1.5 sq km on the west side of Hauraki Road (Hinemoa Street) at Rugby Road. The large property required much maintenance. While Hammond went away to Auckland every day for work, he left his large family behind to manage and improve the estate. They cleared brush, installed fences, raised livestock, and carved out primitive roads. In 1889, he listed most of the property for auction after it had been thoroughly prepared for subdivision.

One of the businesses that eventually established itself on Hammond’s former property was R & W Hellaby’s butcher shop. The large two-storey structure at the corner of Hinemoa Street and Rugby Road was designed in 1912 by Fred Souster and built by Pattison & Brookes. It displaced Hellaby’s original butchery built in 1907, which was moved behind the new structure and is now gone. The building features many unique architectural features and still has butcher’s hooks hanging from the ceiling. Hellaby’s relocated to Highbury around 1930 and leased its former shop to retailers. The building was taken over by the Marinovic family in 1981, who ran Old Salt Antiques Limited until 1998. The family then turned the retail space of the building into Ravenhill Cafe, named after Hammond’s estate. Although the owners have since changed, Ravenhill Cafe remains a popular coffee shop for locals.

Turn left onto Hinemoa Street.