Wild House (24 Chivalry Road)

This English Cottage-style house mostly hidden behind the hedge was built by brothers Colin Hugh Wild and Stanley John Wild. The Wilds bought the land from Margaret Ethel Blackman in 1930. Shortly afterwards, the brothers purchased the 245-ton ship Waimarie and repurposed its timbers to build the home. Colin, who had apprenticed for Bailey and Lowe in the 1910s, set up his own boat-building business at Stanley Bay in 1922. He became well-known for his pleasure yachts, including the Moerewa, Windhaven, and Manunui. The bricks for the home are from James Mackay’s brickworks, which began operating in Porana Road in 1927. Stanley lived in the house until his death in November 1935. Colin’s boat-building yard burned down in 1951 while he was competing in an Auckland-to-Sydney yacht race. He launched his last boat, the Tuatea in 1955 and died soon after.

Cross Chivalry Road when safe to do so and continue to the right. At Glenfield Road, turn left.