The legacy of a noble New Zealander

A view of Otahuna Lodge from its extensive grounds

People from Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island claim that early settlers of the city were mostly second sons of English aristocrats, in contrast to the criminals sent to populate Australia. Whether of noble blood or not, any 19th-century Englishman in this new colony could remake himself in the image of a real gentleman, as long as he had enough money and a good story.

One man who succeeded spectacularly was Sir Heaton Rhodes, a titled New Zealander whose legacy lives on in the house he built in the hills south of Christchurch and lived in for 60 years until his death in 1956.

Rhodes’ father and uncles were from Yorkshire farming stock and arrived in the area even before the first four ships of English settlers made landfall in 1850. They came to rest in Christchurch and set about building a fortune through real estate speculation, claiming large tracts of land and selling it on to waves of new settlers.

When Rhodes’ father died, the family landholdings were sold and Rhodes inherited a fabulous fortune, part of which he used in 1895 to build the largest private residence in the country. It was named Otahuna, which roughly translates from Maori as “little hill among the hills”. Today, that house is one of New Zealand’s exclusive luxury lodges, providing a hideaway steeped in history and Victorian splendour just 20 minutes drive from downtown Christchurch.

I grew up in Wellington in the 1980s and 1990s and, to me, Christchurch always seemed little more than a necessary pit-stop on journeys into other parts of the South Island’s breathtaking scenery. But after hearing about Otahuna Lodge I decided it would make a perfect getaway for my wife and me during our annual trip to New Zealand. Best of all, the lodge doesn’t permit children unless guests hire out the entire residence so we would have to leave our two kids with my mother in Wellington.

We were greeted on the steps of the spectacular Queen Anne-style mansion by Miles Refo, co-owner of the lodge, and Jimmy McIntyre, its head chef. Behind the house huge trees partially shielded the orchard from view and in the front a rolling, immaculately manicured lawn swept down from the swimming pool and tennis court through the Victorian garden to a pond and water features. We stared in wonder at the grand old manor – and at the restored trappings of a country gentleman’s life.

Refo and his business partner Hall Cannon moved to New Zealand in 2006 from their home in Manhattan, New York, and bought the lodge the same year. Together they have restored the building and the 30 acres of stunning gardens in order to recapture the grandeur of the property in Rhodes’ time.

Everywhere you turn there are reminders of the character that walked the mansion’s halls for six decades. Rhodes’ Australian wife, Jessie, appears in many of the photographs that cover the walls in spite of being away for long periods in private psychiatric institutions, where she suffered from mental illness believed to have been brought on by her inability to bear children. She died suddenly in 1929, leaving Rhodes childless. He never remarried, and, on his death in 1956, the servants at Otahuna were ordered to burn all his personal letters and diaries; the conflagration smouldered for two days and nights. 

Soon after his death, the house and most of its opulent furnishings were bought for a paltry sum. In the early 1960s, the property was sold to the Catholic Church, which turned it into a seminary. The house changed hands a few more times – and was briefly home to a commune of Christian hippies – before Refo and Cannon bought it.

As the resident historian, Refo gave us a brief tour of the premises before showing us to the enormous Rhodes suite. It was, of course, Sir Heaton Rhodes’ former master bedroom, complete with turret room, elaborately carved inglenook framing an enormous fireplace, a balcony overlooking the great lawn and a luxurious modern bathroom.

From the sumptuous bathrobes to the chocolate brownies that magically appeared in the cookie jar by our bed every time we left our room, the service and surroundings were flawless. The native timber in the interior of the house exuded antiquity and grandeur and I found myself looking around for signs of secret passages or false bookshelves.

On our second day, while attempting to relive Rhodes’ passion for riding and polo, my wife and I took a horse trek through the valleys behind Otahuna and soon found ourselves high up on a ridge looking down to the fertile Canterbury Plains. On our way back to the lodge we crossed the paddock at the bottom of the estate where the public is invited each year in spring to pick flowers from some of the million or so daffodil bulbs that burst into bloom.

We toyed with the idea of hiring a helicopter to pick us up from the great lawn and whisk us up into New Zealand’s stunning Southern Alps, as many guests do, and eventually settled on a quiet jaunt into Christchurch. And here we encountered Rhodes yet again: after a brief trip on the old-style tourist tram we ventured into the impressive old cathedral in the centre of town and stumbled across a wall of large plaques naming him – and numerous members of the Rhodes family – as distinguished citizens and benefactors of the city.

Back at Otahuna that evening, we retired to the drawing room for drinks and canapés with Refo and some other guests before enjoying a five-course dégustation dinner matched with excellent New Zealand wines on the terrace among the tall trees of the garden.

Most of the ingredients for Otahuna’s menu come from the extensive organic garden and orchard behind the house, and the lodge even rears its own pigs, chickens and cows.

After a delicious meal of tuna tartare, rabbit terrine, venison and local cheeses we retired to the drawing room where my wife, a former concert pianist, sat down at the piano. On returning to our room we were surprised to find an intriguing note on the pillow headed “Stories of the House”. I learned that the piano my wife had just been playing had been brought to New Zealand on the HMS Renown in 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) on a royal tour that was overseen by Rhodes as minister in attendance. Not bad for the grandson of a Yorkshire tenant farmer.

Otahuna Lodge, www.otahuna.co.nz +64 3 329 6333

Jamil Anderlini is an FT correspondent in Beijing