Sarah Margaret Fowler, daughter of Edwin and Eliza Fowler of Spring Grove, was born in July 1856, one of about 11 children. Sarah was educated at the Spring Grove girls’ school and appeared to do well, receiving several prizes during her years there.
In June 1878 she married James Arnold of Wakefield at St Joseph’s Catholic Church. The couple began married life on a farm in Spring Grove and in 1879 James joined the Waimea Rifles, being sent to Paihaka in 1881. During this time he became very unwell and never recovered his health.
After returning to Nelson, the pair purchased the Traveller’s Rest Hotel in Riwaka in 1887. It was there that James died in 1890 at the age of 38, leaving Sarah with five young children. Sarah remained at the hotel and, in June 1891, applied for a new licence in her name.
A year later, in October, Sarah married for a second time, to Henry Byrne. Together, they ran the hotel, and Sarah had another three children. In September 1904 Henry applied for a transfer of the hotel to Herbert Goodwin, possibly due to ill health, as three months later Sarah lost her second husband at the age of 44.
Ever enterprising, Sarah moved forward with her life. In early 1907 she had a new boarding house built in the centre of Tākaka township, named Kia Ora Boarding House. The building featured 17 rooms, including bedrooms and private sitting rooms, with modern amenities such as shower and plunge baths, hot and cold water, and a dining room.
After only three years, Sarah offered the house for sale, although for reasons unknown the sale did not proceed as it was again on the market in 1918.
In April 1920 a newspaper article reported that the Returned Soldiers’ Association was looking to acquire the ‘old’ Kia Ora boarding house and convert it into a soldiers’ club. Further research shows the association did have a club room, although it is unclear whether it was in the former Kia Ora house. The association went into liquidation in 1922 and its assets were sold.
During the 1920s, the Skilton sisters, Silve and Alice, purchased the property and opened the Eureka Boarding House, offering accommodation, fine teas and a catering venue. To attract customers, the sisters erected a large hoarding on a sharp bend on Tākaka Hill, which soon became known as Eureka Bend.
Alice and Silve’s partnership lasted into the 1940s before they eventually went their separate ways. In later years, the lower part of the house was converted into a milk bar.
