until the 2010 canterbury earthquake, the homestead was operated as a restaurant, café and function centre, often used for weddings. the building closed due to earthquake damage. it was officially reopened by christchurch city councillor jamie gough, great grandson of the former owner tracy thomas gough, on 28 november 2016 following a two-year, $3.2 million repair and restoration. the christchurch civic trust awarded a heritage renovation award in 2017 for the earthquake repair works.