Homebush Homestead

On 4 September 2010, the original brick homestead was left badly damaged, with the second storey partially collapsing. The occupants, Jim and Rev. Louise Deans who were in the second storey at the time of the earthquake, were able to escape without injury.[3] In November 2010, the homestead was demolished.[5]

Homebush's forests (located in the homestead gardens) were used as a filming location for the 2005 Narnia film, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.[6][7][8]

The eight-acre garden was first planted out in the early 1850s and has been developed by the Deans family over the last 172 years.[9] Trees were planted very early and provide a frame for the sweeping lawns, some of which have registered in the local ordinances and are recorded in books of nationally and internationally significant trees.

The avenue of Atlantic cedars up the driveway were planted in 1913.

In the 1920s and 30s, James Deans planted over a thousand different species of rhododendrons under the trees in the style of Bodnant in Northern Wales.

The circular orchard is an interesting and rare feature of the garden. It was planted out in holly in the early 1850s as a sheltered vegetable garden and tree nursery. Now it houses old roses and different varieties of fruit trees and bushes.[10]

Even before the earthquake devastated the homestead, group tours and open days still take place. A museum is also available for viewing in the old stables, containing a collection of pioneering country life on the Canterbury Plains. The collection includes vintage farming and mining machinery, military and sporting memorabilia, and a broad collection of the everyday life of our forebears. There is also the unique Dayton, Ohio water turbine, the only known one that it is still in-situ in the world.[8]