Category: 2010s
The Orchard on Harbour Terrace
Named for the apple and pear trees in the back garden.
Boogie Nites on George Street
Speights House on Duke Street
The sign reads, Speights Pride of the south House of Pain Bar.
The sign came from the Carisbrook site.
Keith’s Belly on Malvern Street
Written discretely on the weatherboarded (in crayon?), Keith’s Belly was named when the residents tried to txt their address to a friend. Instead of Leith Valley, the message autocorrected to read Keith Belly.
The Penguin on Leith Street
Those who were born prior to the late 1980s will remember this penguin from the Bluebird potato chip advertisements of 1989.
The Penguin flat features on Nathan Secker’s Scarfie Flats poster (2000) and in 2011 was judged to be the worst in OUSAs Next Top Flat competition, despite their cute kunekune pig, Chompers! Pig skins hanging on the fence were not related to Chompers and a Radio NZ interview revealed the the residents were all from hunting backgrounds and regularly supplemented there grocery items. The NZ Herald reported the residents had a problem with rats as they backed onto the Water of Leith.
“One of the boys had left his jersey in the hall and he noticed it was rustling. When he picked it up, four rats fell out from it and two ran down the stairs into my bedroom. We set gin traps up and later that night one went off in my room, then a moment later another snapped shut in the lounge. We caught some big fat rats.”
Penguin, Leith Street
The Moat on Leith Street
The Hospital on Dundas Street
Howe Bizarre on Howe Street
There have been several houses on Howe Street that pun on the street name. This house may also be a reference to the very popular song of the same name (different spelling) by OMC from 1996.
http://www.nzonscreen.com/embed/8150dfdbc8157dbe
A new sign appeared in mid 2017
The Cabbage Patch on Albany Street
Treasure Island on Howe Street
This 5 man flat was named after the novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. The flatties, all from Auckland, listened to the audio book of Treasure Island on their summer road trip back to Dunedin.
The name of the flat is also influenced by its golden colour (think gold, m’ hearties) and the residents further embraced the name of their flat by dressing as pirates for the Hyde Street party this year (see below).
The flatties were interviewed in 2016 and featured on NewsHub.
Dunedin Flat Names Project 