Niche buyer sought for top property
Bishopdale Estate and its luxury lodge are for sale but the price tag is likely to rule out all but the seriously wealthy.
Peter and Mary Dallison bought the historic Victorian homestead set in park-like grounds from the Anglican Diocesan Trust Board in 2001 and have spent more than $2 million renovating the residence and building upmarket standalone accommodation on the 2-hectare property.
Rates for the Bishop’s Suites, which opened early last year and have featured on the Conde Nast Traveller list of the world’s best new hotels, range from $1500 to $2850 (plus tax) per night.
Mr Dallison said the couple had decided to sell because they wanted to take it easier after his wife, a former Air New Zealand flight attendant, had a health scare. ‘‘There is a lot of stress at the high end where your guests are paying a very high tariff and have very high expectations. We want to take it a bit slower.’’
They wanted to remain in the tourism sector but downsize, and were negotiating to buy a small resort on the Fijian island of Kadavu which catered for about 16 people and offered a more relaxed lifestyle.
The Bishopdale property had a rateable value of about $3.8 million but they wanted considerably more than that, he said. They had spent well over $2m redecorating the residence to turn it into a ‘‘fantastic’’ family home as well as building the suites. The lodge had the advantage of being very close to an airport.
It was being marketed principally overseas as there was a ‘‘very limited niche market’’ for such properties and the buyer was likely to be a wealthy foreigner, he said. It had attracted some inquiries but no genuine interest in the three months it had been on the market.
The business had gone well and had gained from being the only accommodation in the region to cater for the very rich and welltravelled after the closure of the lodge at Paratiho Farms, in Upper Moutere, Mr Dallison said.
‘‘We were very lucky there was a gap in the market.
‘‘We were told not to expect any business in our first year because we were simply unknown, but we made a lot of effort with our marketing and we did very well.’’
The recession had had little effect on business as their clients travelled no matter what the economic conditions were, he said.
Mr Dallison, a former Christchurch solicitor who was last year censured and barred from practising law without permission of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal over a business loan deal where he failed to disclose a personal interest, said the case had nothing to do with their decision to sell up and move.