Farm Cove Observatory (FCO) is a private observatory built in 1999 due to an overwhelming desire to have uninterrupted telescope time on astronomy projects of interest.  It was completed on the 14th of February 2000 at a cost of NZ$12,000.00. This cost did not include the time spent building the observatory or the telescope and equipment currently in use.

At the time, the local city council classified the observatory at Farm Cove as a garden shed due to the easy removal of the dome. Because of this, no building permit was required.

Special thanks to my wonderful friends, especially Fred Velthuis for sharing my desire. Andrew Goodfellow for the observatory design and the many hours spent building it, Marc Bos for his expertise and dedication getting everything working as it should, Grant Christie and Tim Natusch for being on hand when problems occurred and when their expertise was urgently needed - thanks guys.

Andrew Goodfellow July 99 working on the foundations of the observatory. All the foundations and the pier holes were dug by hand through thick clay and sludgy mud - It was not an easy job especially in heavy rain - July is winter  in New Zealand

Positioning the second concrete pipe.    The telescope pier is constructed from two 30cm diameter reinforced spun concrete pipes sunk into the ground at a depth of 1.2m and packed with newspaper. A half meter thick concrete plug sits at the top of the pier to hold the wedge and scope firmly in place.

The steel dome was a bargain at only NZ$200.00, well so we first thought.

Rust and shutter restoration took many hours not to mention many dollars.

In October 2006 rust treatment and repainting were required due to a recurring rust problem because of an incorrect paint application late in 1999.