Believed to be the fifth oldest home in Auckland, Cotter House has a colourful past.

The original house was built by prosperous merchant and sharebroker Thomas Newman in 1847.  In 1862 it was replaced with a grander, Victorian Gothic-style house and ballroom. Under the house is a barred cell where prisoners were supposedly held overnight en route to Howick jail.

It has been used as a private girls' school, a yoga retreat and latterly a private boutique hotel, whose best-known guest Rolling Stone Keith Richards spent a month recuperating there in 2006 after falling out of a palm tree in Fiji at the end of a tour. It has now been turned back into a family home.

The owners are generously opening their garden up to visitors for the weekend and will take visitors on tours of the house during the weekend if they would like.

On the lawn will be market stalls and tables and chairs - a great place to eat your picnic lunch (and escape the weather). A HERO coffee cart will be on site during the weekend for visitors to purchase hot and cold refreshments and a selection of sweet and savoury treats. We've got lots of stalls so you can get some Christmas shopping done - Christmas Crackers and Christmas Cookies supporting KidsCan, Christmas Puddings supporting Rotary, Ruby Seeto Tea Towels supporting Starship and a new boardgame - Botanical Bingo!

For your convenience, 11 parking spaces have kindly been made available for DesignFest visitors at Auckland Hearing Association, 8 St Vincent Avenue. Please use them.