Fernside Homestead, Historic house in Tauherenikau, New Zealand

Fernside Homestead is a five-bedroom American Colonial Revival house with white weatherboard cladding and a slate roof, built in 1924 near Featherston. Its L-shaped plan covers about 9,000 square feet, with three further bedrooms in a staff wing. It stands by the Tauherenikau River on the plain below the Tararua and Rimutaka ranges.

Built in 1924 following a fire that destroyed the original structure, the property was designed by architect Heathcote Helmore for Charles and Ella Elgar. This reconstruction replaced the earlier house that once occupied the same location.

The name Fernside first belonged to the district, now part of Tauherenikau; the nearby Fernside railway station, reached from the far side of the line, closed in 1975. The house has always been a private residence, and in the early 1990s an owner briefly offered the then rundown building as an exclusive B&B lodge before selling.

Fernside is a private residence and not open to the public; the mile-long tree-lined drive from State Highway 2 is the only approach. The former Fernside railway station, reached from the far side of the line, closed in 1975. The nearest town is Featherston.

The house was conceived as a brick building, and the working drawings were made on that assumption; it was built of timber instead, which proved fortunate in view of the 1942 Wairarapa earthquakes. The Fernside/Longwood water race began in 1890, and Fernside lake is known to have existed by 1899.