Australian billionaire David Dicker is selling his remote South Island ski lodge for over $1.8 million.
Dicker, who made his fortune in IT and now designs racing cars, has extensive property interests in Hurunui, including Wandle Downs Station, the Rodin Cars complex and Mt Lyford Lodge, which is up for sale.
The freehold lodge, about 180km north of Christchurch, is located in the Mount Lyford alpine village.
The village was the brainchild of developers Doug and Jenny Simpson. They built the pine lodge in the early 2000s on a 7263sqm site at the foothills of the Kaikoura mountain range.
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It provides guest accommodation for up to 60 people and comes complete with a restaurant, bar and commercial kitchen facilities. Dicker’s company bought it in 2021 for $1.8m from its then-owner, Costinel Rogoz.
According to the information memorandum, the property was renovated around four years ago. It is being sold as a turnkey opportunity, but not as a going concern.
“This substantial freehold lodge presents an opportunity to secure an established alpine property with genuine scale, character and versatility. Positioned as a premium real estate offering rather than the sale of an operating business, the property provides an impressive foundation for a new owner to shape its next chapter,” Bayleys listing agent Kate Mullins wrote in her listing on OneRoof.
Dicker bought Mt Lyford Lodge in 2021 for $1.8m, and is now selling it for about the same price. Photo / Supplied
Mt Lyford Lodge is being sold as a turnkey opportunity. Photo / Supplied
“It may suit an owner-operator, an established hospitality group or an investor seeking a distinctive destination asset with further development potential.”
The property has an RV of just under $2m.
Mount Lyford is situated on State Highway 70, about 62km from Kaikōura, 68km from Hanmer Springs and 145km from Christchurch, and has 55 log homes.
The original covenants allowed buyers to build log homes only, but these were relaxed following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. New builds now need only follow an alpine chalet-style design.
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The remoteness of the town often appeals to buyers. It is a low-density alpine retreat with no commercial strip. The lodge is the hub of the village, with the nearest supermarket an hour away in Kaikōura or Hanmer Springs, although there is a mini supermarket in Waiau, a 20-minute drive away.
Local children catch the bus to Waiau for primary school or travel on to Culverden for secondary school, although some attend boarding schools in Christchurch.
A long-time resident told OneRoof earlier this year that people who live in Mount Lyford like the peace it offers. “They don’t need retail; they don’t need cafes. This is how we live,” Robyn Powell, a fellow Bayleys agent, said.
The Mount Lyford Ski Area attracts up to 600 people a day at the height of the season. “It’s not Coronet or Cardrona. It’s classed as semi-commercial. It has a lovely family-friendly feel,” she said.
The property sits in the heart of Mount Lyford, a remote alpine village without any shops. Photo / Supplied
Dicker and his ex-wife Delwyn in 2016. The couple divorced in 2024. Photo / Supplied
Dicker’s association with Mount Lyford began in 2006 when he bought the 550ha Wandle Downs Station with the intention of developing a world-class testing and manufacturing facility for high-performance racing cars.
He founded Rodin Cars in 2016 and subsequently built an extensive manufacturing complex, engineering workshops and private test tracks on the property.
According to Rodin’s website, the Mount Lyford operation now includes carbon-composite, design, electrical engineering, assembly and production facilities, as well as a multi-stage vehicle testing track.
The founding of Rodin Cars was said to be the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for Dicker, who wanted to build a car capable of outperforming a contemporary Formula One car. After the company was established, it acquired the near-complete Lotus T125 programme from the UK and spent several years refining the concept. The project eventually evolved into the Rodin FZED, one of the company’s flagship track cars.
Dicker in 2021. He has several property interests in the Mount Lyford area. Photo / George Heard
On his website, Dicker wrote: “I wanted to build the lightest, most compact 4.0-litre 10-cylinder engine possible. We’ve achieved that.”
In the early days of Rodin, the billionaire lived in a modest weatherboard home nearby.
Dicker, who divorced in 2024, is also known in the motor racing industry for backing Kiwi driver Liam Lawson and other young drivers. Dicker’s website said it is currently supporting teenage drivers Marco Manson, 15, of New Zealand, and Australian driver Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi, 13, through a pathway programme that has sent them to the UK to be evaluated by the British Formula 4 operation.
The New Zealand Herald wrote in 2019 that Dicker divided his time between Waiau, his native Sydney, Jumeirah Beach in Dubai and Italy’s Dolomites mountain range, and that he had laid almost 3km of tarmac, at a cost of more than $2m, for a private racetrack used to develop prototypes.
He said in 2016 that Wandle Downs was a “vanity project”. “I’ve wanted to build my own car since I was 20. But it’s really expensive. You need to make your money first. But now I can do it.”
Dicker is said to have started his working life as a roof installer in his father’s Sydney business. He moved into computers in the 1970s and built a no-frills IT distribution and computer-reselling business, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Dicker, who is now in his 70s, told the publication he was intent on enjoying his wealth.
In 2025, Reseller News reported that, after 47 years of building Dicker Data, Dicker had left the business. He told the publication: “I am happily pursuing my own ventures in New Zealand with Rodin Cars and on the world stage with Rodin Motorsport, back trading the US stock market and looking to do a data centre project.”
A spokesman for Rodin said Dicker had very little to do with the lodge.
- 10 Mt Lyford Forest Drive, Mt Lyford, Hurunui, is for sale for $1.8m-plus
