A French-style country lodge created by the late multi-millionaire philanthropist Chloe Wright is up for grabs.
Wright, who co-founded the childcare provider BestStart, built the luxury chateau in the Western Bay of Plenty as her forever home.
She and her husband Wayne lived there for several years before they decided to turn it into a unique accommodation experience for international guests.
However, the five-bedroom property, which is surrounded by European-style gardens and charges more than $1000 a night, is now on the market following Wright's death in September last year.
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Ray White listing agent Simon Cotter told OneRoof the whole family had been involved in the creation of the house but it was now time for another family “to love it as much as they have”.
“They’ve loved it. The whole family was part of it, painting window sills and fences and putting in posts.”
Cotter said Wright was inspired by the houses she had seen while cycling through picturesque French and English villages.
Chloe Wright co-founded BestStart childcare and was known for her philanthropy. She died last year. Photo / New Zealand Herald
Wright created the house as her forever home but later turned it into a boutique hotel. Photo / Supplied
She brought her vision to life with the help of local architecture firm Lochhead Designs and Allan Shaw, of Atrium Homes, with the project taking two-and-a-half years to complete.
The resulting property, which is known to visitors as The French Country House, looks centuries old, and to be fair some of the materials do date back hundreds of years.
Wright told the Bay of Plenty Times in 2011 that she wanted “people to enjoy a very welcoming New Zealand experience. Nothing commercial”.
“We’ve travelled a lot, and what you remember the most is the people you meet and how you are treated. We want our guests to feel that here,” she said.
The property is surrounded by European-style gardens. Photo / Supplied
Guest pay more than $1000 a night to stay at the property. Photo / Supplied
“I want them to relax and not worry about any stuff.”
She added: “The house isn’t just about architecture. People have a very hands-on experience and they soon realise they are getting more than they thought they would.”
Wright and her husband Wayne co-founded BestStart Educare in 1996 and later set up the Wright Family Foundation in 2014.
She was a well-known philanthropist and personally funded a raft of organisations including Plunket, Perinatal Depression, Anxiety Aotearoa, The Parenting Place and Sean Plunket’s radio station The Platform. The Wright Family also built four private birth centres around the country.
The house contains many period features but was only built in 2008. Photo / Supplied
In 2020, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to philanthropy, education and health.
Cotter said the property was “95% built” out of modern materials, “so it’s all watertight”. The structure of the home is brick with plaster to give it an aged look and the roofing shingles sit on top of a layer of Butynol waterproofing.
“The whole house as you walk through is like an art piece,” he said. “You walk through with an absolute amazement of every space and design,” he said.
“Its nickname is the French Country House. It looks like its 300 or 400 years old, but it was only built in 2008.”
Wright was so keen to make the home look historic that the plasterer was called back to add a crack, he said.
The home encompassed a number of materials reclaimed from earlier eras such as a church door that was salvaged from Mexico, and 17th century reclaimed tiles from the same building.
“She had done a lot of travel through America and Mexico and she came across the wooden doorway in Mexico.”
Exposed beams throughout the home were reclaimed from a retired South Island railway bridge.
The home, which sits on a hill, has spectacular views out to Mt Maunganui. The family is open to selling the furniture in the home as a package, he added. “It is open to negotiation.”
Interest so far has come from a local and a potential Auckland buyer, said Cotter, adding that the RV of $3.28 million didn’t reflect the value of the home or expected sale price.
“It’s definitely got to be well, well, well above where the RV is. But if you put a price on it, people get a preconceived idea,” he said. “It’s a masterpiece, this place.”
- 163 Esdaile Road, in Whakamarama, Western Bay Of Plenty, goes to auction on June 8
