 The other remaining 1870s concrete building is the gate house , located some distance away on the Rakaia Barrhill Methven Road . Wason 's homestead was at the end of a drive starting at this gate house , on a cliff top overlooking the Rakaia River . The homestead burnt down not long after Wason had left the country , and a new homestead was built nearby . The gatekeeper 's lodge originally had a slate roof , but this was later replaced by iron . The last family moved out in 1935 . During the second world war , the iron was stripped off the empty building , and it fell into ruin . A later owner , Colin McLachlan , donated the land and the ruin to the people of the district ; it is now vested in the Ashburton District Council . The renovation began in 1970 , with work carried out and financed by descendants of previous inhabitants of the building . A plaque on the building states that it was reopened in March 1979 by the Prime Minister of the time , Robert Muldoon , but his plane ran late and the opening ceremony was conducted by Colin McLachlan . The gate house is fitted out as a museum , and viewing can be arranged through the Ashburton or Methven information centres . 
