• The Masonic hall is something of an oddity in Ponsonby’s Renall Street. Sandwiched between cute villas on the narrow street, the plastered brick building rises like a monolith.

But the Independent Order of Oddfellows and the Royal Antideluvian Order of Buffaloes (motto: no man is at all times wise) have moved out.

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Jess Britten, with partner Warren Durling, have created “rooms” within the hall to provide a sense of intimacy.