- Cape South, a luxury wellness retreat in Hawke's Bay, near Havelock North, is for sale.
- Owners Susie Wren and Robert Wells are selling due to the strain of managing multiple properties.
- The property features extensive gardens, a mineral pool, and a studio used for yoga.
A French colonial-style mansion that's home to an internationally renowned wellness centre has hit the market for sale.
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The Hawke's Bay homestead, dubbed Cape South, offers luxury wellness retreats, with prices ranging from $960 to $2300, and was named one of New Zealand’s best spa retreats in last year's Travel+Leisure Luxury Awards.
Owners Susie Wren and Robert Wells told OneRoof that they were hunting for a base for their nascent wellness business when they saw Cape South for sale in 2015.
The property is home to Cape South Country Escape & Wellness Retreat. Photo / Supplied
The couple had been considering Kenya, where Robert had inherited a ranch, and the UK, where they owned an organic farm and shop, but they fell in love with the homestead, which sits on 6ha in Waimarama.
“When we saw the brochure for Cape South, we decided to have a look at it,” Wren told OneRoof. “On arriving, I felt very strongly that we should buy it. So we moved [our daughter’s] schooling to New Zealand and had a wonderful time.”
Cape South was bare land until previous owners Mirabel and Peter Brook transformed it into a family home. The project involved moving a 1903 homestead from Waipawa to its current location. The Brooks expanded the home threefold and cultivated the gardens that now surround the estate.
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Wren and Wells originally ran the retreat by themselves, but they decided to partner with another couple, Kate and Cam McLay, who are now the majority owners.
Now that their daughter has moved on to university, Wren and Wells are selling up, telling OneRoof that the strain of running three large properties around the world has become too much.
“We’re in our mid-60s. We just thought perhaps we ought to sell it. If we can, we’d love to sell it to someone who wants to keep it going as a retreat. But of course, whatever happens," they said.
“We still have a property in New Zealand, but it probably won’t be a complicated one.”
The colonial mansion sits on over 6ha of idyllic land just outside of Havelock North. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys listing agent Tim Wynne-Lewis remembers when the villa was a doctor’s surgery in Central Hawke’s Bay, but he thinks it's much more impressive where it is now. “It's very grand, but it's also very homely. It just has a very peaceful feel to it. It's all secluded. You can't see any of the neighbours from the property," he told OneRoof.
“It has very well-established gardens, and there have been thousands of native and exotic trees planted on the property. There's the pool, the veranda, these huge sweeping lawns, and obviously the view out to the ocean and the additional little hut there. There is a studio, which is currently used for part of the retreat, as well as a heritage orchard, organic vegetable gardens, and a pottery garden for herbs. And there's a mineral in-ground pool. It really does have everything. It's almost a self-sufficient retreat.”
Wynne-Lewis, who has sold many grand homes in Hawke’s Bay, said Cape South was unique. “We’ve sold the likes of Mana Lodge and Orewawharo down in Takapau. We've also sold Green Hill and Craggy Range. All significant homesteads with land, and they do draw attention. Green Hill is possibly similar to Cape South, but that was a two-story building, and not really French colonial.”
Wynne-Lewis, who is also selling the small home and olive grove that Wren and Wells own next door, told OneRoof that the wellness business could be bought separately.
- 55 Waipuka Road, Waimarama, Hastings, is for sale by negotiation
