Makahuri: A Co-Housing Community on the Kāpiti Coast
Not so long ago, the long-abandoned Catholic school at Te Horo, on the Kapiti Coast, was the home of pigeons. What once had been a thriving girl’s boarding school, known as Marycrest, had fallen into disrepair. Blackberry had spread across the property, which became a favourite place for daring urban explorers, vandals and thieves who took pipes and wires from the seven buildings to sell as scrap metal.
But the derelict property was also the site of one of the last remaining virgin native forests on the Kāpiti coast. And now, after decades of neglect, it is the home of a new co-housing community of like-minded folk who are restoring the land, preserving the forest, planting gardens and, slowly, repairing the buildings.
Now the community has chickens, pigs, a thriving garden, its own solar power grid, a book club, a beautiful community chapel, dogs running free, and a community of people who want to live in harmony with nature and with each other. Makahuri is once again a working farm, providing providing milk for cheese making! Even the swimming pool – long abandoned and covered in blackberry – has been resurrected! The pigeons have been evicted from the gym and baby tress are being cared for in a nursery to slowly expand the forest.
If you are interested in joining us, send us a message using the form at the bottom of this page.
Our vision statement: Makahuri is a sustainable, safe, creative and harmonious co-housing community. It is a place of beauty where the mauri, forest, land, people and animals are honoured and respected by all.
News articles:
Rambling Catholic Girls rehab facility changes hands
New name and new life for abandoned Catholic school in Te Horo
New energy at former Marycrest girls school in Te Horo
Urban explorers at Marycrest
Kapiti couple buy Marycrest girl’s home
Marycrest for sale on Trademe
Can a tiny house be haunted?
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Our community is based on consensus decision-making. Watch the video below to see how this works.