Since 1932, six generations of family members have been coming to Marly’s Cottage. Robert and Florence Young were the first owners. Robert (Major General Young) was a popular and very renowned serviceman. They had nine children of which Marly was one.

Marly’s Cottage is named after Marjorie Lysbeth Cooper. Marjorie and her husband Arthur Riddiford Cooper (Bill), came to live at 44 Tasman Rd in 1957.

Marly and Bill had come from Wellington where Bill worked as a lawyer. They had six children; Andy, David, Timothy, Arthur, Jeremy and Nick. David died of a kidney disease in 1959; he was only in his late 20s. Marly built the rock walls you see on the property as a way of coping with his death. She had a very clever way of encouraging anyone she could to help her fetch and carry rocks for the walls.

Marly lived in the cottage on her own after Bill died in 1968. She had a real charm about her; she was a very special lady who helped to hold a large family together.

As time went by, Marly’s son Tim retired from sheep farming in the Wairarapa. Tim and his wife Mary moved to Otaki where Tim and their son David who was a builder, built their new home at 44C Tasman Rd. They helped look after Marly until she died in her 92nd year in a Levin Resthome..

Her legacy lives on as Tim and Mary kept ‘Marly’s Cottage’ as a place for family and friends to enjoy.  They expanded the gardens and took great pride in caring for the property. In 2009 Tim passed away leaving Mary to continue looking after the place for the next 14 years. Sadly David also passed away suddenly in 2014. It had been assumed by the family that David would most likely be the next long term caretaker of Marly’s Cottage as he had spent many hours helping on the property; he loved the place.

In February 2022 Mary passed away after a sudden cancer diagnosis. Mary had been well known in the Otaki area having worked as a Practice Nurse at the Otaki Doctor’s Surgery.  Mary was an avid gardener who was responsible for the expanded gardens on the property.

In March 2023, Tim and Mary’s daughter Barbara and her husband David, took on the task of restoring and repurposing the property.  At the same time, Tim’s niece Ruth and her husband Joe Glover bought 44C Tasman Rd as their family home.