Caselberg House, Broad Bay - a place for Creative Minds and Makers

This small house - a cottage really - plays a pivotal role in the artists' and writers' experience.

With views through to the ever-changing Otago Harbour, in sunlight or storm, this house exerts a powerful emotional pull.

Maybe it’s something to do with its birdsong-quiet, its leafy greenery, the echo of past artists and poets who have lived or worked here - or maybe it’s just the quixotic mix of space - and the gift of time.

Take a walk up the secluded path to the front door. It’s an unpretentious house. Open the door. Directly in front of you is a bold Anna Caselberg painting.

It is a painting that speaks of “this place”, the extraordinary landscape of the Otago Peninsula, land meeting sea, sea meeting sky, rocky shore, the call of gulls….
…..you have arrived.

Other artworks and poems by previous residents who have stayed here line the walls.
There are bookshelves tight with novels, art books and poetry - a nod to the legacy of both Anna and John Caselberg. You notice the quality of light from the many windows and how the windows frame the view of garden, trees, harbour and sky - and, out the back, delight of delight, 3 small plots of herbs, veggies and salad leaves, ready for the picking…. especially for you.

You notice the wood-burner, already set, and the basket of wood stocked ready to use, the heat pump for colder mornings, the desk with the harbour view - and - the kitchen - harking back to the 1950s, with its red formica table and kitchen tops. It takes you back to other times.

You have suddenly left the busyness of life behind.
You have a quiet space of time in front of you, to think, to work, and to breathe.
Respite.
A gift.