Despite what you might think, the family homestead only recently received the name of Stonehaven. It’s been a journey taken over 40 years, two marriages, and the blending of two families into one.
Back in 1961, George married Val, and the young couple purchased a property in West Auckland. It was just a clay-bound bush block covered in scrub and 7ft high gorse, down the end of a dirt road cul-de-sac. Within the next 3 years, the land had been cleared and a home had been built, ready for a young family.
Over the next 10 years or so, the property took shape as George brought the scrub under control, carved out garden beds, built scoria rock walls, laid paths, and held down a full-time job as a commercial stationery salesman, which involved a fair bit of travelling.
And so the first decade or so passed, as did the first marriage, although they remain good friends. In due course, George married Jan, and over the next 20 or so years, the house had another storey added to accommodate the enlarged family, the interior was redecorated, and a whole lot more landscaping was done. The boys were drafted early into the landscaping efforts (sons are so handy!) and the girls would run around with cold drinks and repeatedly hassle the hard working lads to stop for lunch.
One enduring memory the children have is of the concrete mixer. Every weekend it ground away, mixing cement for George’s stone walls and paths. They think it’s still lurking around somewhere…
Bit by bit, parts of the property were developed and redeveloped as George refined his vision. He also incorporated some ingenious features into the plans, such as a concealed water tank to irrigate the gardens, rather than relying on mains supply (clever conservation as well as a money-saver). And turning an ugly rainwater drain into a beautifully crafted and cleverly planted pebbled creek. Now how’s that for Kiwi ingenuity?!
Over the last 10 years, George has had invaluable assistance from various gardening professionals, who have all helped George in achieving the realisation of the long-held original vision, which has culminated in the beautiful collection of gardens now known as Stonehaven.
Stonehaven was featured on Maggie’s Garden Show, 27 June 2003 and
this article is from the TV One website:
Stone Splendour, with Ruud Kleinpaste
After 40 years of backbreaking work, George Mattar finally has his garden the way he wants it. Every one of the thousands of rocks that terrace his garden was picked from the quarry with great love and care by his own hands and then architecturally built into his impressive rock garden – a garden that looks amazing every day of the year.
George is a Lebanese New Zealander and he found out recently that stonework was, for generations, the trade of the Mattar family back in the homeland.
“It made sense to me when I found out,” George says, “Because I’ve always felt that a passion for stonework ran in my veins.”
He takes his work seriously and in the early days he worked for up to 18 hours a day.
The end result is a spacious garden filled with stunning stonework and a diverse range of different kinds of plantings in different areas. Recently George counted up a total of 72 separate garden beds throughout the half-acre section.
Featured plants: Blood lily (Haemanthus coccineus), Dragon’s-blood tree (Dracaena draco)
Stonehaven is not currently open to the public. For viewing by private appointment, please send us an email.