Miniature Time Traveller Issue 1

Miniature Time Traveller Magazine Issue #1/17 www.miniaturetimetraveller.com Historic Recreation of Oaklands Homestead, Nelson in 12th scale John Waring Saxton, 1808-1866, was born in England. He left Shrewsbury with his wife and five children in 1842 and decided to settle in the Nelson area. Their first house was a small pre-fab. In 1844 Saxton brought the NZ Company Barracks at the port and rafted it around to Stoke, making it into a family home. The house “Oaklands” survives to this day. Although he did not have a background in farming John Saxton successfully farmed what was difficult land, swampy on the flats and very hilly everywhere else. Today Oaklands has a reputation for producing fresh milk at the farm gate or at 80 selected outlets locally. The milk comes from a herd of A2 tested cows and as it is not pasteurized it may improve digestibility for those who struggle with diary products. It is bottled in glass recyclable 1 litre bottles. Mary and Jeff Saxton were inspired to build a 12th Scale replica of Jeff’s ancestral homestead in Nelson. Jeff with his not inconsiderable building skills spent hours going up to the original homestead taking measurements and converting them to a 12th scale plan. It is not at all like a standard 12th scale dollhouse open from front viewing only. This is a faithful reproduction of the floor plan of Oaklands and it a walkaround model. The layout of the house emphasized the Victorian social requirements of the times. The two front rooms had sliding doors that once slid back creating a ball room. The master’s study was a large room while the adjacent family bedroom was significantly smaller. John was a artistic, musical man. Of all the furnishings in the house, put together by Mary, the piano closely resembles his. He also played the violin and John and his wife hosted many musical soirees at Oaklands over many years.