Masonic Hotel, Waitara (1881)

The Masonic is the only original hotel in Waitara - it was built in 1881 for James Holmes. The building was designed by New Plymouth architecture partnership Edmonds & Sanderson (James Sanderson & Henry J. T. Edmonds), who advertised for tenders during April 1881. The hotel seems to have been completed by October 1881.

The building was extensively modernised in the 1950s.

Wayne and Lorraine Young bought the hotel in 1984.  In late 2011 they began a major renovation project which was completed in 2014.

Wayne Young died in December 2014 and the hotel, managed by Denise Mackie, was put up for sale in 2016. It was sold in 2020.

Documents

1908 entry in Cyclopedia of New Zealand

1883 advertisement

NPDC District Plan, Heritage Inventory (Masonic Hotel)

Waitara Flashback, North Taranaki Midweek, 31 July 1991

Notorious Old Watering Hole goes on the Market in Waitara, Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 2016