When hydro development of the upper Clutha catchment was initiated, Cromwell was chosen as the project administrative centre. Of the five dams proposed, only Clyde was built (and not without controversy).
In Cromwell a pilot scheme of 30 houses for workers on the scheme was built in the original area of the town. With this deemed successful, 80 hectares to the west of Barry Avenue was developed. Included were the shopping mall, the industrial estate, a primary school, a secondary school, Anderson Park, a greenway system, and 635 residential sections.
House consruction began in 1977, and 450 were built (some extra houses were transported from Twizel, but were sold for removal when the hydro project wound down). Unlike the Twizel houses, they are all fully insulated, mainly 3 bedroom, but some 4 bedroom. Window joinery is aluminium, or occasionally steel (unusual). The 3 bedroom house floor areas are around 110 square metres, the 4 bedroom ones 130 square metres.
Project House
As the subdivision was not fully built up during the project there is now a mix of these houses with more modern dwellings in the area, and some sections have yet to be built on.
The geocache here is on a boundary fence near the entrance to Shale Court, where all the dwellings are project houses - sometimes referred to by land agents as Ministry (of Works & Development) houses. We consider these to qualify as affordable houses. The 2013/14 capital values of the unaltered 3 bedroom houses in the street range from $255,000 to $260,000, and the 4 bedroom house (No. 6) is $270,000.
Shale Court
You are likely to pay more than this to buy one of course, and No. 7, CV $255,000, sold recently with an asking price of $315,000. Asking prices for similar houses around town range from $295,000 to $330,000.
Update: The 2016/17 capital values have increased to $400,000 - $415,000, and the asking prices are now $450,000 to $480,000. This is still affordable compared with Queenstown or Wanaka, but if you are looking for more reasonable prices try Ranfurly. Currently (Feb 2017) there is a 3 bedroom house on sale there for $173,000 (CV $138,000), and another one priced at $260,000 (CV $165,000).
These Cromwell project houses were the normal size at the time. Only the very rich had ensuites, walk in wardrobes, and more bedrooms than family to occupy them. Kitchens were judged on efficiency rather than spaciousness. Times have changed, and current expectations are at least part of the reason why newer houses have become less affordable.
The house where the geocache is located is actually 19 Wishart Crescent, but the driveway is from Shale Court, so we have unofficially labelled it as 1 Shale Court (the house next door is No.3, the one opposite is No. 4, there is no number 2 either). The house here and at No. 7 have the same floor plan (pictured).
Floor Plan, 19 Wishart Crescent, 7 Shale Court.
The cache is locked with a combination padlock. To get the combination, drive or walk up the court and get the numbers from the letterboxes shown below - the combination is XYZ. Note that if your GPS unit does not display pictures then you might like to print this one. Phones should be OK. Please do not do this at night. As you go note that that there are some shared garages with a block dividing wall on the boundary, e.g. Nos. 3 & 5, 8 & 10 and 11 & 12. The fibrolite panelled front fences are also typical of the project houses.
Letterboxes for Combination