Gear Homestead, Colonial building in Porirua, New Zealand.

Gear Homestead is a two-storey wooden house built in 1887, designed by Robert Edwards and constructed by William Hartley from matai, totara and kauri. Its south wall is about 30 cm thick and filled with sawdust to insulate against southerly winds. James Gear later added a cottage behind the house, linked by a ramp, where he lived with a nurse and manservant.

Construction of the residence was completed in 1887 for James Gear, founder of a major meat processing and freezing business in New Zealand. The family retained ownership of the property for more than 80 years before it passed to other hands.

The homestead displays Victorian architecture crafted from native matai, totara, and kauri wood, showing the skilled work of local builders in the 1800s. Visitors can observe how wealthy industrial families chose premium materials to construct their homes during that era.

The property operates as a cafe, bar, and restaurant open every day of the week for visitor use. You can explore the homestead while enjoying refreshments in a historic setting from New Zealand's industrial era.

James Gear had a cottage built behind the house with a ramp to the main house when he needed a wheelchair; he lived there with a nurse and manservant, apart from his family. The homestead later appeared in Peter Jackson's first film, Bad Taste, shot in the early to mid 1980s, and in the 2007 horror film When Night Falls.