Historic homestead unsold after 7 years
Buyer sought for manor used by admiral to plot protection of NZ waters
It has been at least seven years since the majestic South Canterbury homestead where a naval admiral plotted his strategy to keep New Zealand’s waters safe was first put on the market.
But despite its place in history, its antique furnishings, pristine English gardens and a 2005 refurbishment, a new owner is still needed for the Holme Station Homestead, just south of Timaru.
The red and white dwelling, where Lord John Jellicoe of Jutland lived while he planned how to keep enemy forces away from key British sea routes, has been on the market for at least seven years.
Previous reports show the luxury estate on Pareora River Rd currently listed as having a “price on application”, had an initial price tag of $3.5 million in 2011, and $4m in 2016.
QV.co.nz showed it last sold in 2003 for $450,000 — $10,000 less than its then capital value.
The Bayleys agent responsible for the 10-bedroom property’s latest listing, Sue Morton, said it offered a great opportunity for anyone looking to enter the niche luxury lodge accommodation market.
“It has been meticulously enhanced by its current owners over a 16-year-period — including fastidious landscaping and nurturing of some of the original 110 native and introduced species of trees and the original rose-bed plantings.”
She said the house, which was built in 1911, was an “exceptional” example of New Zealand’s great early homesteads, with many of its original features still intact.
“The pure grandeur and elegance of the manor is unbelievable, yet it is a wonderfully warm family home.”
Holme Station, which has a rating valuation of $2.65m, was being used as a private and commercial retreat but could, she said, be easily converted into a high-end commercially run lodge.
It is being sold complete with its furnishings, its own helicopter pad and even its antique crockery and cutlery in the kitchen pantry.
The manor sprawls across 6.4ha of land in Otipua, near Timaru, and was built as a home for a pioneering family, the Elworthys, who used it as a farm.
In 1919 it was used as a home base by Lord John Jellicoe of Jutland, said to be the mastermind behind the 1916 Battle of Jutland victory in World War I.
He later went on to become one of the first GovernorsGeneral of New Zealand.
Jellicoe spent several months at the homestead in 1919 preparing naval options to protect British sea lanes from the Japanese in the years after World War I.
The Asian nation’s growing fleet of battleships and cruisers was said to pose a growing threat to the sea links between Britain, New Zealand, Australia and India.
Jellicoe arrived at the homestead with his family, servants, a wine-cellar collection and his horses after sailing to New Zealand on the battle cruiser HMS New Zealand.
It is said the plans he developed for a major Royal Navy battle fleet in the Pacific shaped the then British Government’s expansion of a huge naval base in Singapore.
He left the station after several months and went on to take up the post of GovernorGeneral, a position he held from 1920 to 1924.
The homestead’s current owner is listed as the Holme Station Homestead — of which the sole shareholder is Gareth James Morgan (not the founder of The Opportunities Party).