A quirky estate where Oscar-winning Kiwi filmmaker Jane Campion and her crew stayed while filming in Queenstown is on the market for sale.
It is one of two properties designed by the late legendary architect Sir Ian Athfield for sale in Queenstown, although the agents involved say their appearance on the market together is a “total coincidence”.
Campion was just one of many celebrities, world leaders and politicians who flocked to the luxury Punatapu Estate at 1113 Glenorchy-Queenstown Road, in Queenstown, over the last 20 years.
The property was designed by Athfield in the early 1980s for legendary Queenstown doctor Dr Pat Farry and his wife Sue as their family home. When their children left home, they turned it into a luxury retreat complete with its own chefs.
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The estate, with a trademark Athfield turret, has six bedrooms and bathrooms, two kitchens and three living spaces that are spread over four linked accommodation buildings giving it a village-like feel.
Farry, well known as a tireless advocate for rural health, died suddenly in 2009 and for the last four years the property has been off and on the market.
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Punatapu is currently run as a short-term accommodation business, but with a heated swimming pool, sauna, and spa is also marketed as having plenty of potential.
Colliers salesperson Doug Reid, who is one of the listing agents for the property, says Punatapu Estate is a very special property that has been developed over the years. The family first bought the land in 1973.
“The mature tree, the beautiful ponds, and the quite timeless architecture – it is quite cool.”
Reid, who was previously a valuer for 20 years, says Punatapu Estate and the house at 453 Littles Road in Dalefield are the only Athfield properties he knows of that are in the area.
The unique property on Glenorchy-Queenstown Road was designed in the 1980s and has one of Sir Ian Athfield's distinctive trademark turret. Photo / Supplied
The property, which once employed its own in-house chefs, is now being used as short-term accommodation. Photo / Supplied
The properties will appeal to those who love architecture and he has been contacted by a North Islander who wants to own a unique Athfield building.
Meanwhile the four-bedroom, two-bathroom Littles Road home has an asking price of $3.885 million. The current owners purchased it last year and have carried out a renovation including adding a new deck and pergola.
Being built in the early 2000s, the Dalefield home is one of Athfield’s later designs and has a distinctive Mediterranean feel despite being in an alpine environment.
Luxury Real Estate salesperson Nick Horton says it is unique with the expansive 85sqm roof terrace giving 360-degree views over the countryside and surrounding mountains.
OneRoof-Valocity records show the property last changed hands in July 2022 for $4.008m on a 20,371sqm section. The property is now being sold on a smaller 6003sqm section.
Horton says it is a “total coincidence” that two Athfield homes are for sale at the same time.
The lifestyle property at 453 Littles Road in Dalefield, Queenstown, is one of Sir Ian Athfield's later designs. Photo / Supplied
While there are a small number of Athfield properties in the South Island, the majority are in the lower North Island.
In 2018, a landmark Athfield waterfront home, known as The Castle, sold for $835,000. The Marine Drive property in Eastbourne, Wellington, had Athfield’s hallmarks of rounded walls, slit windows, tile flooring and floor-to-ceiling glass.
Prior to that another Athfield home on Amritsar Street in Khandallah sold for $860,000 in 2016.
The property was next door to Athfield’s own home and office, which is described as his most well-known and outlandish design complete with turrets, slides and courtyards. Athfield House has never changed hands and remains in his family’s ownership.
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