The newly-constructed Abbeyfield House in Katikati has now become a home – thanks to an early-morning blessing on September 29 – and today tenants begin moving in.

After six years of fundraising, the facility has been constructed on Wills Rd to offer a large family-style house for senior residents with modest or limited assets.

Abbeyfield Western Bay of Plenty – the committee behind it – secured funds from philanthropic trusts, individual donations and grants, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban development, along with running multiple fundraising events to purchase the land and pay to build the house.

Abbeyfield WBOP committee chairperson Carole Parker said the recent blessing had turned the house into a home. “The blessing was something we wanted to do, because we’ve done blessings when we purchased the land and turned the first soil. It’s important for us, and it turned it from a house into a home before the residents start to move in.”

Katikati’s Abbeyfield House is now complete. Photo / Merle Cave

Parker said local iwi alongside former Katikati resident, reverend Brendan Gibbs, took the formalities. “Brendan was one of the original committee members so it was wonderful to have him come back to be part of that blessing.”

Six months

Mount-based iLine Construction secured the building contract and spent the last six months on-site making the dream become a reality for the Abbeyfield WBOP committee.

iLine Construction’s Oliver Simpson said the building had passed its final council building inspection and his team was this week sorting a few touch-ups before the site handover.

“We would have had at peak 25 people on-site, but it ebbed and flowed. Lots of subcontractors from all around the Bay of Plenty have been involved. It’s a really neat project and I know the committee have worked really hard to get this to come to fruition.”

Katikati’s Abbeyfield House is now complete. Photo / Merle Cave

Parker, who said Abbeyfield WBOP had worked on the project for six years – back in early-2024 still had a shortfall of $280,000. “We worked hard to raise that and then received a generous donation from a Katikati couple, who gave us $50,000 via the Acorn Foundation.”

‘Overwhelming’ 

Parker, who had been part of the committee for six years, said getting to the point of having the home finished and ready for tenants was “overwhelming”.

“When we have a look at the house, after seeing a plan on a piece of paper for years, and having people come to visit and say: ‘This is my room and I’ll be moving in’ – it’s just incredible,” said Parker. “But there’s still a lot we’re working on – because once tenants move in we have to actually run the house.”

Parker took Katikati News for a tour earlier this week before tenants began moving in. The house is split into three wings, with a total of 14 studio-style rooms. Each has a large wardrobe/storage area, a walk-in bathroom ensuite plus a large studio room with a small fridge and bench space for a kettle to make hot drinks.

Katikati’s Abbeyfield House has a large communal living room-dining area. Photo / Merle Cave

Each room opens via ranchslider to a private outdoor terrace with a small garden if tenants want to tend to it. “We’ve designed the house with three wings because this gives sunlight into each room, which are all north-facing, even in winter.”

Tenants make their own breakfast at a permanent ‘breakfast’ mini kitchen, which is part of the large communal living room-dining area. A large kitchen is adjacent – with two stove-tops, two ovens, two dishwashers and two fridges – for housekeepers to prepare two meals per day for tenants. Two laundry rooms, with ample storage, at either end of the facility enable tenants to do their own washing.

Volunteers 

The facility has an office for management for administration. Parker herself will be the volunteer house manager, working with a team of volunteers. The facility’s three housekeepers had been employed to cover seven days a week and were busy preparing for the residents to move in, said Parker.

The rest of the facility’s maintenance and administration team were volunteers. “We have a group of five who’ll be the house management team, the rest of the committee will do the governance, and a list of volunteers will help us with things like the gardens and other tasks to look after the house”

Parker said 11 residents are lined up to move in “and we’re going through the selection process to identify the final three”.

There are 14 studio rooms across three wings in Katikati’s Abbeyfield House. Photo / Merle Cave

The 14 residents will be a mix of male and female, and all are either Katikati people or have a connection to Katikati, Parker said. “Some are returning to the town now that they can live here affordably or they have family here they want to be close to.”

Parker said a team of three had the task of selecting tenants from applications “to ensure there’s a group of compatible people who can live together and flat together in this household”.

It was really important for all tenants to be able to get along, Parker said. “They do have their own studio spaces but they will meet and mingle for activities, dinners; things like that.”

The facility is fenced and has CCTV and a security system, so it feels safe, said Parker. Some tenants have vehicles – a parking lot is on-site– and a small internal garage would be for parking mobility scooters and e-bikes.

Warm, safe, secure 

Parker said the committee wanted the house to be a beautiful, warm, secure, safe place where tenants can access healthy meals and spend time socialising with others.

“One of the key things is that social isolation – we hear about people on their own, who don’t get out much, aren’t capable of doing so for various reasons – so the tenants are really happy they are coming to a place where they can socially connect with others.

Each tenant living in : Katikati’s Abbeyfield House will have a mobility-friendly bathroom in their room. Photo / Merle Cave

“Once they get to know one another there is opportunity for them to make new friends.”

Parker said Abbeyfield WBOP was still receiving tenancy applications, and this was ideal. “This is because our residents may be here for a long or a short time – vacancies may arise for different reasons. So if people are interested, we’re still taking applications.”

Find out more at: www.abbeyfield.co.nz/house/wbop/