A railway station in Central Otago is on the market looking for buyers with more than $1 million to spend.
But there’s a twist.
The six-bedroom station at 11 Half Time Close, overlooking the Omakau section of the Otago Rail Trail, is actually a reproduction of the original station which sat at the other end of town. Just the iconic red corrugated iron goods shed and the empty platform remain of the original, but local builder Wayne Johnston, who built the property with his partner Karen in 2011, took up the challenge.
He told OneRoof it was a chance remark from a mate who was selling the land that set them off on their project.
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“We just like to be out in the country a little bit further. A friend of mine said ‘I’ve got a new subdivision out [Omakau], you should buy a section, there’s a really good one at the corner there’,” Johnston told OneRoof. Omakau, about 25 minutes out of Alexandra, is a favoured overnight spot for cyclists starting out from the trail head, Clyde.
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“I was walking along the rail trail one day and there used to be an old railway station further along, so I thought, ‘why don’t we build a train station and turn it into a bed and breakfast?’. So that’s what we did.”
Working from a photograph of the original station, the couple built their new station as close as they could to the now-gravelled rail trail, clearing the land so that it appears to belong to the railway. They even located some old railway sleepers and track to complete the station-like landscaping.
The builder-owner built the station on the edge of a new subdivision, using photos of the original and adding some railway line for atmosphere. Photo / Supplied
The kitchen is framed with old railway sleepers. Photo / Supplied
“I thought if you’re standing on the platform you might as well be looking at a railway track. It’s as if you’re standing there waiting for the train to turn up.”
Johnston said his design of the station copied that of the original, although he added an arched tunnel that draws visitors from the entry driveway through to the back. On one side is the guest wing for the three ensuite bedrooms, with its own lounge, while the other side of the tunnel houses the family accommodation with a generous country kitchen, three more bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The couple used recycled materials such as the railway sleepers that frame an archway to the kitchen, and a Victorian fireplace surrounding one of the toilets, and Johnston carefully replicated old-school tongue and groove walls and picture rails.
Because it is new, the station has all the mod-cons – full insulation, double glazing and a heat pump to supplement the log burner. In the yard, Johnston fitted out a man cave, again designed to look like the old railway outbuildings, with another bathroom and living room.
Johnston, whose roots in the area go back to his great, great grandmother who married into the district in 1905, has lived around Alexandra, Arrowtown and now Poolburn, in the Ida Valley. He said he’s watched the Otago Rail Trail get bigger and bigger, allowing them to run their part-time business through the summer hosting visitors from America, England and Auckland.
The builder added an arched tunnel to separate family living from the three ensuite guest rooms and lounge. Photo / Supplied
The man cave, built in the style of working sheds around the old railway. Photo / Supplied
“All of a sudden, Ophir is a nice little town, a lot of farmers retired here, there’s a wee supermarket. People have put accommodation all the way along the rail trail.
“You do it in the season and then once the season’s over, you can go on holiday.”
The current owners have had the place for three years, since Johnston moved on to his next project, restoring a 100-year-old church outside of Ophir, but agent Peter Hishon, who owns Tall Poppy Central Otago, said the price, which is enquiries over $1m, is not about the business.
The view back to the rail trail and mountain scenery. Photo / Supplied
“The pricing is relative with what it would cost today to do the building and the section. It’s really attractive for people who would want to do a B and B, as Omakau is a very popular stop-off on the trail and it’s near to Ophir.
“But it’s a small income, you don’t make millions of dollars. It’s not significant enough to register for GST. You could run it as a sideline or you could actually ramp it up.”
Hishon said that buyers were turning their attention away from the big expensive centres like Queenstown and Wanaka to these more rural parts.
“It’s very popular for lifestyle and semi-retirement, you could live there, run a wee business and work from home. We’re an undiscovered part of the country,” he said, adding that many of his property buyers have come back after riding the rail trail albeit years later.
“It’s a massive magnet. They say ‘let’s go down and look at property and come down here to live’,” he said.
Also for sale is the historic stone hotel and restaurant Dunstan House on 29 Sunderland Street in nearby Clyde, looking for over $3m. Photo / Supplied
In Ophir, five minutes from Omakau, the award-winning Pitches Store, which includes a restaurant and boutique accommodation, is looking for $2.45m. Photo / Supplied
For buyers with bigger, full-time business dreams, one of Hishon’s team members, Fiona Cooper, is listing an historic stone hotel in nearby Clyde.
Dunstan House on 29 Sunderland Street, has 11 suites in its boutique accommodation plus a cafe and function business and a two-bedroom owners’ home, and is looking for $3m plus GST.
Up the road in Ophir, another rail trail icon, Pitches Store on 45 Swindon Street, is looking for new owners for their immaculately restored six-room luxury accommodation and award-winning restaurant. The 2012 renovation of the 1883 stone store won architectural and Master Builders awards and sits on 1969sqm of land.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agents Jane Hanna and Matt Finnigan are marketing the property with an asking price of $2.45m plus GST (if any) for the business, equipment and assets
- 11 Half Time Close, in Omakau, Central Otago, is looking for enquiries over $1m
