About Kaurinui
Hundertwasser arriving at Kaurinui. Photo Credit: Peter Femfert
A Living Legacy
Kaurinui was Hundertwasser’s NZ home for his last 25 years. He first discovered the property in 1974, with the help of the Fagen family who lived nearby. He later acquired this farmland property in the Kaurinui Valley, Bay of Islands, with bare landscape - returning it to nature.
It was here at Kaurinui where he could truly live and work in harmony with nature. This was one of his key homes. He continued to travel and work on international projects and painting. When at Kaurinui he lived and worked in regular communication with his Vienna management team, communicating mainly by fax from his farm house and later a converted pigsty.
The rudimentary farm buildings were reconstructed into functional spaces in harmony with Hundertwasser's ideas for a more humane living, while respecting the past use at the Shortridge farm.
Here he could put into practice what he preached, living amongst nature, and being self-sufficient using solar panels, a water wheel, and a biological plant purification plant among others.
Our aim
Hundertwasser lives on.
He lives on in the tulip tree that grows over his grave in the “Garden of the Happy Dead” and which is nourished by and gained strength from his mortal remains. He lives on in the numerous architectural projects conceived by him all over the world.
Kaurinui was a paradise Hundertwasser established for himself by means of his own creativity, a reflection of his vision that continues to inspire every one of us. We owe him thanks for his work, and for the shining example he set.
Living Hundertwasser is a visitor experience that encourages others to gain a deeper understanding of his life by offering guests the opportunity to walk in his shoes. Experiencing for themselves how he lived and worked, decades before ecology arrived as a mass movement.
As a living ecological restoration project we are a heart beat for environmental leadership, inspiring positive change by offering visitors unique immersive experiences at Hundertwasser’s hidden, natural paradise of sustainable living.
Volunteers onsite at Kaurinui. Photo credit: Tristan Tuckey
Exclusive Experience - Register your Interest
Hundertwasser’s New Zealand home Kaurinui has undergone significant restoration. A new gallery and Eyeslit House has been established onsite, preservation is ongoing. We can now share Hundertwasser’s private New Zealand paradise with visitors.
This unique visitor experience, a guided tour for small groups, is now being offered to ‘Experience Nature, Art and Creation’ - Living Hundertwasser.
Minimum donation of $200 per person for the day experience, with a group maximum of 15 people. This includes morning or afternoon tea and transport from Opua/Kawakawa. Kaurinui is a short drive from Kawakawa, or a short boat ride from Opua.
Register your Interest
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Hundertwasser sitting under a giant Puriri tree. Photo credit: Alfred Schmid
‘Paradises can only be made by the individual, with his own creativity, in harmony with the free creativity of nature.’
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1983
Our supporters
This project is funded to date by generous support from Lotteries, Foundation North, Northland Inc, bigfish, passionate volunteers, and major investment from the Hundertwasser Non-Profit Foundation
