Eighty years ago airline pilot Captain J. Nevill-Jackson spotted a good-looking plot of land while flying over the Waitakere Ranges.
He bought the land and built a home for himself, not realising that it would grow into one of the country’s biggest and most popular retreats.
Waitakere Estate, a favourite with Auckland wedding parties, is on the market for sale for $21 million.
Bayleys agent Larissa Tsapko, who is marketing the property with colleague Nicolas Ching, says buyers from Australia and Singapore have shown interest, as have local hotel operators.
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The 28-room hotel sits on 30ha of native forest and comes with its own chapel, 20m swimming pool, spa and helicopter pad.
“You could pay $10 million for a 1500sqm property in Remuera or for $21million you can get 30ha in the Waitakere Ranges with a river, a hotel and a church. And it can be subdivided into seven or eight lots,” Tsapko says.
The latest edition to the original 1960 hotel was a $6 million extension that added eight luxury rooms, a spa and gym facilities. There’s also approved resource consent that would allow the new owner to add another 12 rooms to the hotel, Tsapko says.
The estate has been popular wedding venue for Auckland couples. Photo / Supplied
"There’s no other property like this in Auckland. It’s a very special place.”
The hotel sits within the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area and is surrounded by native forests, walking tracks, waterfalls and tree-lined picnic areas.
Booking data from Waitakere Estate's back-office shows that over recent years, domestic leisure travellers account for 45 per cent of visitor numbers; with domestic conferences generating about 40 per cent of business by volume, international guests making up 10 per cent of stays, and functions and weddings sustaining around five per cent of guest nights.
The listing of Waitakere Estate follows the listing of another high-end lodge and wedding venue. Also up for grabs is Ataahua Lodge, in the Bay of Plenty.
The Italian-style lodge, called Ataahua, is wrapped around lush gardens. Photo / Supplied
That luxury property, which is being marketed for sale by Bayleys agent Jan Hodges, has a 2019 rating valuation of just over $4.5 million and looks like it has been plucked from the Amalfi Coast.
Hodges says: “You walk through the gate and feel as though you are being transported into another world. You just can’t wait to see what is through the doors or around the corner.”
