'Woodhey', Te Awe Awe Street

This house was designed by L G West for Jacob Nannestad, a sawmiller, in about 1892. It was sold to Mr John Henderson Pollock Strang in 1903, during whose time the house was enlarged and renovated. It was also leased by Strang to the Crown for use as the residence of Lord Plunket, Governor General of New Zealand 1908-1910. Strang named the house 'Woodhey' after his wife's English childhood home. He sold it in 1921 to W Caccia Birch. After Caccia-Birch's death it was gifted to the NZ Government in 1941, and was variously used by the army in WWII, as a convalescent home for nurses, and by both Victoria and Massey Universities. The house has been owned by Palmerston North City Council since 1984 and has been restored and renovated as a conference and function centre. It is now called "Caccia Birch House".