Yesterday, four of those children - Bill (81), of Oamaru, Gwen Francis (79), of Oamaru, Evan (69), of Ashburton, and Lois Cunningham (64), of Oamaru, visited their former home.
The present owners of the four-bedroom wooden villa in Duntroon's Orr St, Rachael and Barry Gard, opened the house to mark 100 years since it was built in 1908 as a retirement home by John McCone.
About 50 people took the opportunity to look through the house, including the four Voyce children. In 1910, the police compulsorily acquired the house for the Duntroon constables, occupying it until 1989 when the Duntroon post was closed and the Gards bought it at tender.
The longest serving of those constables was William Voyce who, along with his wife Diana and 12 children, occupied it from 1940 until 1960, when he retired.
The police office, now a bedroom, was inside the house until 1955 when a separate office was built in front of the home.
The cells stood on the back lawn before being shifted to Oamaru in 1989. They later came back to Duntroon and stand on the village green.
The property was also used to grow a huge crop of carrots for the rabbit board.
